When Old Dreams Shatter, New Ones Emerge
by dandi706
Summary: Eventual SasukeNaruto yaoi. Sasuke and Naruto have an argument after Naruto brings Sasuke back from Orochimaru. Sasuke mocks Naruto’s dream to become Hokage, and for some reason, this time Naruto listens. He leaves the village to pursue a new dream. His f
1. Part One: Shattered Dreams

**When Old Dreams Shatter, New Ones Emerge**

**Prologue**

Okay everyone! I don't feel like writing how Sasuke was taken from Orochimaru so I'm just going to do a brief overview. Sasuke was training with Orochimaru for two and a half years getting stronger, a lot of stuff happened and somehow Naruto met up with them again and a lot of drama took place and Naruto ended up beating Sasuke before turning on Orochimaru. He had to go into the state where Kyuubi takes him over, so he doesn't remember too much but he beat Orochimaru. Somewhere during the fight, Naruto talked some sense into Sasuke. He wasn't really honoring his family by taking what Orochimaru had to offer and killing his brother. It wouldn't mean anything because it wasn't his own power he was using. He even insulted Sasuke by saying that he was worse than his brother. At least Itachi achieved his power on his own. Sasuke was just a lazy bum willing to sell his soul to the devil to get strong, not work for it like everyone else had to. It was no wonder that Itachi always beat him and said that he wasn't worth killing. Everything got really sappy in Sasuke's mind and he even tried to help Naruto beat Orochimaru by using Chidori on him, critically injuring him before Naruto lost control of Kyuubi and finished him off. Let's just assume that even after all this, Sasuke and the rest of their former classmates still have no idea that Naruto is Kyuubi's container and the only people who know are the ones that are old enough to remember what happened. Let's just assume that everyone is dense and Naruto never told anyone and nobody noticed anything. Not that any of this matters. The only thing that you need to know is that Naruto saved Sasuke from Orochimaru and they are now back in Konoha. I didn't feel like writing all this in story form. Too tedious. Damn, I sound like Shikamaru now.

**WARNING**: OOC characters abound in this story. It is also a _slight_ crossover with Inuyasha. You don't really have to be familiar with it to understand this story though. It doesn't have many of the characters, but I took one just because I liked him and he fits in this story. I'm not going to put Sai in this story. I just don't want another character to keep up with. This is going to eventually be a Sasuke/Naruto **YAOI** pairing. There will be instances of slight Sakura/Lee. All my stories are rated the way they are for a reason. There will be occasional strong language and there will be a lemon or some sort of citrusy goodness (or badness, depending on how well it goes) in later chapters. But, again, I warn you that I am not very good at them and have never actually written a male on male lemon before. I usually do not like male on male pairings but for some reason I like them with Naruto. I have no idea why. Be kind…or not, I don't really care. I've never really had a flame before so I can't tell you how they would make me feel. But you chose to read this story and could stop at any time if you don't like it so I really think that if you are offended you have only yourself to blame.

**Summary:** Eventual Sasuke/Naruto yaoi. Sasuke and Naruto have an argument after Naruto brings Sasuke back from Orochimaru. Sasuke mocks Naruto's dream to become Hokage, and for some reason, this time Naruto listens. He leaves the village to pursue a new dream. His friends think that he is dead, but try to go on with their lives. Eight years later, he's back but will anyone recognize him? And what will happen between him and Sasuke?

So for the **blanket disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto because Mashashi Kishimoto does. Nor do own Inuyasha because I am not brilliant enough to come up with something that good. I also can't draw to save my life. Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takashi. This applies to the entire story and any future stories I write. It is true now, it will still be true a hundred years from now and longer. Unless I become really, really rich and they sell them to me, but that is extremely unlikely.

**Additional Information**: Naruto and gang are 15 in part one of the story. And there will be a little surprise at the end of the story; not a very original surprise, but a surprise none-the-less.

**Part One: Shattered Dreams**

"Sasuke, will you stop feeling sorry for yourself already! You're back home; quit sulking!"

Sasuke couldn't stand it. He couldn't believe that Naruto had to be the one to rescue _him_. It was unacceptable. Sasuke hid his anger and humiliation beneath a smirk. "You're right. You should be the one feeling sorry for yourself. You think that _you_ have a chance in hell at becoming Hokage? It's laughable really. You have no leadership skills, you're clumsy, and you fail to grasp even the simplest of concepts. You were dead last in the academy and you will always be that, no matter how strong you get."

All of Sasuke's words were hitting hard with deadly accuracy all of Naruto's deepest insecurities. But there was no way that he would allow anyone to see them. He had heard it all before. "Ha, Sasuke, you forget that I'm the one that saved you. And it has been a long time. I have improved a lot since you disappeared. I beat Orochimaru when you could not."

His words only flamed Sasuke's anger at the real target of his anger, himself. This drove him to say something to Naruto that he would have never considered saying to him otherwise. "Be that as it may, even if all that I said was not true and you were half as good as you think you are, you still wouldn't ever be Hokage. Do you think that I never noticed the way that everyone looks at you? I may not know why, but they look at you with hatred. Do you think they will let someone they hate become Hokage? It doesn't matter how good a shinobi you become. You will still be dead last in the running for the title Hokage just as you are dead last at everything you do!" With this Sasuke turned his back on Naruto and went to bed.

Naruto's eyes went to the floor. With those words, Sasuke managed to do what no other person, no matter how strong and insightful, had managed to do. He broke Naruto's spirit. Sasuke was his best friend. If he didn't believe in him, what was the point? Sasuke was right: who in their right mind would follow someone they hated and distrusted? Unlike Sasuke, Naruto knew why the villagers hated him. They considered Kyuubi a threat. And they thought Naruto _was_ the fox, even if he was just its container. They didn't trust that the seal would hold and not break, releasing the nine-tailed fox to roam and kill again. Kyuubi had killed their family and friends, as well as their beloved leader and hero, the legendary Fourth Hokage. There was no one that hadn't lost someone to the fox. Even though the younger villagers and his friends didn't know the truth, there was no way it would remain a secret, and then he would lose what little respect that they had for him and would hate and fear him like the rest of the village. He had been kidding himself all along. There was no way for him to ever become Hokage.

Naruto turned away from Sasuke and headed for the door. He needed to leave, to go somewhere and think. He didn't know what he had to live for now that his dream was gone.

Sasuke sat on his bed wondering what had possessed him to be that cruel to Naruto. For a moment before he turned away, he thought he might have seen something inside Naruto's eyes break, but that was impossible. There was no way Naruto would take his words to heart, not when he had been told the same thing Sasuke had said millions of times when others heard his intent to become Hokage. It wasn't like any of it was true anyway. The villagers had gradually come to accept Naruto. They didn't have the same look in their eyes they had had before he took the Chuunin examination. Well, _most_ of the villagers seemed to be changing their opinions of him. He had been gone a long time, but even before he left he had noticed the changes. He still had no idea why the villagers had hated Naruto, even from the time he was just a little kid. He speculated it was either because of the pranks or because of his family. It was probably because of his family, although no one really talked about whom Naruto's parents were. The only explanation was they were a disgrace to the village, and now they viewed Naruto as a disgrace. And that stuff he had said about Naruto having no leadership skills was wrong, too. He had something about him that inspired others to do their best. He may be goofy and uncool, but he worked hard and with determination to reach his goals. He had never doubted himself and that confidence inspired others, including Sasuke. He saw the best in people and could make even his enemies acknowledge and respect him. He went all out for his friends and would die for them. The only thing keeping him from being the ultimate shinobi was the fact that he cared too much. But maybe that wasn't a weakness, but his greatest strength. Sasuke was certainly grateful that Naruto had made it his responsibility to bring Sasuke back, even if he was angry that it had been necessary in the first place. He still couldn't believe he had been stupid enough to join Orochimaru. He probably should have thanked Naruto instead of yelling at him. _Good thing Naruto is so hard-headed that nothing I said will get to him. I'll apologize in the morning when we all meet to train._ Sasuke frowned. He was _so_ not looking forward to swallowing his pride and admitting Naruto had saved him.

*****************************************************************

Naruto was still reeling from Sasuke's words. Now that becoming Hokage was out of the question, he had no idea what he was going to do for the rest of his life. Sure he was a shinobi, but what did he have to work toward now? Would he just go on missions and become a mindless killing machine? Would they allow him to be in any position of power? He didn't think so. He knew that Tsunade was fond of him…well, as fond of him as she was of anyone. But even she would have to bow to the pressure of the majority of the village. He didn't want to become like some of the shinobi, just following orders with no regard for what was right. He didn't want to not be in a position to change things for the better. He wanted to make this village better so that no one had to suffer as he did. He wanted to fix the priorities that some people had. He wanted to defend the weak and protect this village. He wanted to keep his word to Neji that he would change the Hyuga family when he became Hokage and release him from his curse. He couldn't do all this if he was just following orders without regard to his own code. He remembered the way Zabuza had described the shinobi way when they were defending the bridge builder from him. He didn't want to be a tool for whoever was in power. He wanted to help people!

_That was it_. Naruto's eyes shot open and he stared up at the sky in wonder. That was the main reason why he really wanted to become Hokage. _At first it was just because I wanted the people who shunned me to acknowledge me, but as I grew up my priorities changed. I saw all the injustice, all the things that was wrong with the world and I thought that I would fix it when I became Hokage. But now I see that I won't be. I don't have a chance. What will happen if I stay here? Eventually everyone will find out about Kyuubi and they will hate me too. I doubt that anyone will want me to go on any missions and then I won't even be able to do anything. I will be useless. _Naruto's head sank to his chest. _More than anything…I don't want _them_ to look at me with hatred and fear._

Of course this opened up a whole new set of problems. If he just left, then he would become hunted as a missing-nin. He would have to constantly be on the lookout to evade capture and death. He would probably be so wrapped up in that that he wouldn't have time for anything else and he would be in a worse situation than he was now.

Naruto rolled over and put his head on his arms. He could just tell Tsunade he was going on a training mission and just never come back. But would she accept that? The supply of shinobi was extremely low and they needed all that were available to take missions. And after a while she would probably send people looking for him. Maybe he should just tell her the truth: he had given up on his dream to become Hokage.

Naruto looked down at the necklace Tsunade had given him. He would give this back to her so she would know he was serious. But he really didn't want to have to fight Tsunade if she decided she couldn't let him go. He looked at the moon and determined it was about the time she would be passed out. He would leave her a short letter with the necklace telling her he had given up his dream to become Hokage and was on a quest to realize a new dream. Hopefully, she wouldn't send anyone to look for him, but you never know. There was also the fact that the Akatsuki were still after him. He could come up with a disguise. He doubted he would recognize Kakashi without his mask. Maybe if Naruto added a mask like Kakashi's no one would recognize him. Most of the villagers and even some of the shinobi never looked past his whisker marks anyway. And he could hide his forehead protector. It would only blow his cover, but he knew he couldn't throw it away. It was too important to him even now. He wouldn't turn his back on his village, but he didn't think he could _live_ here anymore. He couldn't do anything as he was now. But if he left and went where no one knew anything about him, he had a real chance at doing some good. Here no one would listen to him, but if he made a name for himself helping people, then maybe other people would. He didn't have to be Hokage to make a difference.

The villagers would probably be relieved when he was gone. It would take away some of their fears that the fox would somehow escape the seal and come after them. They might think that the farther away he was the better. His friends deserved a goodbye but he didn't want anyone to try to talk him out of this. Kakashi and Jiraiya would be just as bad as Tsunade if he confronted them. They would probably knock him out and lock him up until they thought he came to his senses and agreed to stay. Now that he had a course of action, he wanted to take it as soon as possible. He knew everyone's lives would go on without him. Sasuke and Sakura would be just fine. Sakura would finally be happy that she had Sasuke all to herself. Kakashi would go on as he always had, as would Tsunade and Jiraiya. Iruka-sensei…He would have other students to teach and other former students to lecture.

He sighed. He would really miss everyone, but he knew this was for the best. He couldn't be the person he wanted to be and stay in this village. He wouldn't be given the chance. As a goodbye, he would leave another letter to everyone saying he was going to travel to all the different countries and learn all the cool new jutsu he could. He even put in a taunt at Sasuke that when he came back to the village he would be sure to kick Sasuke's ass first thing. They didn't have to know he didn't intend to come back.

When he got to his small apartment, he pondered what to bring. He would have to leave most of his stuff behind and travel light. Not that he had many possessions besides the many boxes of ramen in his pantry. There was really no need to bring any of his orange jackets and pants; they were too recognizable. It would defeat his purpose. He sighed, depressed that he would probably never get to wear it again. He had one completely black outfit that would do for now. He had to buy a new wardrobe—well, two new outfits anyway—in the next village he came to. He would be traveling a lot so there wasn't going to be room for much. He knew he couldn't go without ramen so the majority of his pack was stuffed with it, as well as a pot to boil water. He counted the money saved from his missions; it would hold him for a while. He could take some odd jobs in different towns along the way when he needed more. He put the money in the pack and continued packing. All his scrolls and ninja equipment went in, along with a picture of team 7 back when they were all still genin. He stared at the picture for a long time before placing it in his pack. He would miss them all. He had worked so hard to get Sasuke back so they could be together again and now he was the one leaving. At least he had fulfilled his promise to Sakura to bring Sasuke back. He knew now she was not the one for him. She wouldn't ever feel for him what she did for Sasuke. He didn't think anyone _could_ love him that way. Half the time he didn't think Sakura even _liked_ him.

Naruto finished his packing and quickly wrote the two letters. The first, he wrote formally to the Hokage. The second it was to all his friends, including Tsunade. He examined the letter critically. It seemed cheerful enough to him given how grim he was. He put the letters and the necklace in a big envelope. He would leave it on the Hokage's desk.

There was only one more thing to do. He looked at the black shirt that he had laid aside on the bed and the scissors in his hand. He had to make his mask. He took the scissors to the shirt. When he was done he tried it on. It was a little ragged, but it would do for now. He put it in his pack with the rest of his stuff and shrugged the pack on his shoulder.

Naruto took one last look around his apartment before shutting the door. He would probably never see it again. Even if he did come back, he wouldn't stay for long. There was always a chance of someone recognizing him.

He dropped off the envelope in the Hokage's office before heading to the front gate. He made it out of the gate of the city with no problems. The guards were used to him leaving to train at all hours and thought nothing of it. He had disguised the pack to look like an ordinary scroll that he often carried with him.

As soon as he was far enough away from the village, Naruto discarded his orange clothes and changed into his black outfit and mask. He looked at his reflection in the water of a river and was astonished at how different he looked. He looked more grown up and serious. There was something else different that he couldn't quite place, but he guessed that it really wasn't important. The important thing was that he was sure that no one would recognize him now. The last thing he did was take off his forehead protector, staring at it for a while before putting it in a secret compartment in his pack with regret that he would probably never wear it again after he had worked so hard for it. But the actual forehead protector wasn't really important; it was what it represented. Naruto straightened.

_I don't need a forehead protector to remind me of what I am and what I can do. I am a shinobi and no one can take that away from me, not even with my death!_

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Naruto should have remembered that he was supposed to train with Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi the next morning. Or maybe he did but figured that Kakashi would be late and they would just think he forgot until Tsunade found the letters. He may have thought Sasuke and Sakura wouldn't go looking for him until Kakashi got there (which probably would have been a couple hours at least) and he still hadn't shown up. Which would have probably been the case. But there was another mistake he made. He should have known that Kakashi would choose the day Naruto didn't want him to show up on time to show up on time.

He also should have been paying more attention to his surroundings as he was burying his clothes. Or he should have waited and threw them away in the next village. He definitely should have sensed the huge wolf-like monster behind him before it swiped his arm with its claw, slinging blood everywhere. As Naruto jumped away, he brought his jacket up to cover his wounded arm. It was soaked within a minute. Nothing life threatening, but it did leave him weakened from blood loss. The monster was currently in the process of tearing his pants to shreds. In less than a second it had swallowed the pants and turned back to Naruto and growled loudly. _I have to get away, before I loose any more blood._ Naruto threw the jacket at the beast to distract it for a moment and clasped his hands together and made the sign of his signature jutsu. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Twenty Narutos leapt at the monster. It was confused to find so many enemies attacking him when he had thought he had only one prey. The clones got in many solid punches before he had disposed of them all, leaving the beast seriously injured and without any prey except for a lone, bloody, orange jacket.

*********************************break**********************************

Naruto swam down the river for a while to hide his scent from the monster. When he was far enough away, he jumped out of the water and leapt through the trees, hoping to further hide is trail. He was lucky that his pack was waterproof or his scrolls would be useless.

When he judged that he was far enough away, he dropped onto a high tree branch and rested his head against the bark.

_Well, my first day on my own could have gone better._

*********************************break*********************************

Sasuke and Sakura were waiting at the bridge where they were supposed to meet the others at dawn. They were surprised that Naruto wasn't there yet but thought he must have slept late. However, they were extremely surprised when Kakashi popped up only about five minutes late.

"Where's Naruto?"

Sakura was in shock. "Sen-sensei! You're here!" She rushed over to check to see if he had a fever. "You don't feel like you have a fever. Did you hit your head? Are you really Kakashi-sensei? You can't be; you are NEVER on time!"

Kakashi ignored her and focused on Sasuke. "Do you know where Naruto is?"

Sasuke was starting to get a bad feeling. "Maybe we should go check Naruto's apartment. The blockhead probably just slept in or forgot we were supposed to be training today."

"I agree with Sasuke, we all know what an inconsiderate idiot Naruto can be sometimes." Sasuke shot Sakura an annoyed look before ignoring her completely.

They all went to the apartment but didn't find Naruto there.

"Maybe he went ahead to the training ground." Sakura suggested. As they turned to leave, they saw Neji and Kiba. "What are you two doing here?"

"Well, I wanted to see if Naruto wanted to get some ramen with me and Neji wanted to ask Naruto something about training with him. What's wrong? Isn't Naruto at home?" Kiba said.

Sakura told them of her suspicion that Naruto had gone ahead to the training grounds without them and the other two decided to go along for the ride. At the front gate they ran into Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji, who were on their way to train also. They all decided to walk to the training grounds together.

"Hey, are you all looking for Naruto?" One of the guards at the front gate asked.

Sakura answered him. "Yes, did he come this way?"

"Yes, he came through the gates about an hour ago, carrying a scroll."

Sakura turned to the others. "See, I told you that he went to the training grounds alone."

"But he didn't go towards the training grounds. He went towards the river." The guard corrected her.

"But why would Naruto go towards the river?" Just then they all felt a strong breeze blow past them and saw Tsunade looking mad as hell.

"Hokage-sama?" Kakashi inquired, uncharacteristically hesitant.

"There is no time to explain, Naruto has left the village!"

"We know, Hokage-sama, we were just on our way to look for him-" Sakura started.

"You don't understand. I mean Naruto has really _left_ the village. I don't think he intends to come back. He left this." She held up the necklace that she had given Naruto.

Sasuke glanced at the necklace. "So? It's just a necklace."

Sakura stared at the necklace. "Naruto treasured that. He wouldn't just leave it."

Tsunade growled. "It is not just a necklace. I gave this to him when I acknowledged that I believed he could become Hokage someday. He also left a letter saying he had given up his dream of becoming Hokage. He said he was going to leave the village to search for a new dream." She held up the necklace again. "He told me to give it to the person I picked to succeed me. He said only the person who is to be Hokage should wear it." She growled again in frustration. "Doesn't that little punk know I intended for him to be the next Hokage?! Almost everyone else was aware of that fact; why wasn't he?" She pounded the gate with her fist, leaving a big dent. "Why did he give up? All this time, no matter who doubted him, he never _once_ doubted himself. He beat Orochimaru! Didn't that prove he has what it takes?"

Sasuke looked shell-shocked. He honestly hadn't believed Naruto would listen to a word he said. It wasn't like he ever had before. Why did he pick now, when Sasuke really hadn't meant it? Sasuke came to a conclusion. There was no way that he would allow Naruto to give up on his dream, especially if he was doing it because of his words last night.

Sasuke shot towards the river, leaving the others in his dust. Tsunade quickly followed him, as did the others. They got to the river and found no sign of Naruto until Sasuke caught a flash of orange out of the corner of his eye on the edge of the river. He bent down and picked it up. It looked like a piece of Naruto's pants. What had caused them to rip?

Kiba closed his eyes to see if he could smell Naruto. His eyes flew back open and he started running upstream. He yelled over his shoulder. "I smell Naruto's blood! A lot of it!"

Everyone hurried to follow Kiba. They made it to the spot where Naruto had fought. Blood was everywhere and they couldn't imagine what it was that had done this to Naruto. They only hoped that he was still alive.

A demonic growl sounded from behind the trees and the monster stumbled from behind them. It was still chewing on Naruto's bloody jacket. All eyes immediately went to that all too recognizable jacket. They could all see the bloodstains even from as far away as they were.

"Neji, use Byakugan to see if Naruto was eaten by this beast." (**AN**: Don't know if it can do this really, but it will in my story.) Tsunade was the first to speak. She could tell that this monster was a demon. Not as strong as Kyuubi, but strong enough to give them a lot of trouble.

Neji immediately did as he was told. He was too shocked to argue, not that he would have anyway. He activated his eyes and peered in the beast's stomach. He immediately deactivated it. He felt sick but knew that they needed an answer. "I can't tell if it's Naruto…but this monster has definitely eaten a human recently."

Sakura had tears streaming down her face. "What do you mean you can't tell?!"

Neji didn't want to answer. Kakashi beat him to it. "From the size of the monster's teeth, I think that the body would be unrecognizable. There is no way to tell who it is."

Sasuke refused to believe Naruto was dead. He activated his Sharingan. "Then we will tear his stomach open after we kill him!" He leapt toward the monster and was immediately hurled back into Kakashi.

He got up to go again, but Kakashi held him back. "It will not help Naruto if you get yourself killed. We will do this together."

In the end, it took all their special jutsu to defeat it. Shikamaru couldn't hold it for very long with his shadow technique but it still helped. Choji rammed it a few times. Sasuke and Kakashi both used Chidori on it and that slowed it down a little, but it was Tsunade who finished it off. They were all almost ready to pass out by the time the fight was over.

_If Naruto hadn't fought it before we got here, even I would have had trouble beating it._ Tsunade thought tiredly. _Naruto…Please don't be dead_.

Sasuke slowly got up and went over to the body of the dead demon. He reached into his pouch and grasped a kunai. The girls quickly averted their eyes as he slashed the stomach open and sorted through its contents. He closed his eyes in pain at what he found. The rest of Naruto's pants were there along with the extremely bloody jacket. The body that they found in the demon's stomach was human, although you could barely recognize it as such. It was almost completely ground up. Only a few of the bones were recognizable. Sasuke paused. "Kiba? Can you tell by the smell if this is Naruto?"

Kiba closed his eyes. "I can smell Naruto a little, but the stomach acid covers all the other smells. I can't tell you for sure if the body is Naruto's."

"Does this mean…" Ino started.

Sasuke's eyes snapped open. "Naruto is not dead! I would know if he was. We have to find him if he is injured. Everyone spread out!"

Kakashi laid a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. He too wanted to hope for the best, but he felt that the other boy should be prepared, just in case the worst happened. "Sasuke, we will continue to look for Naruto, but you should consider the possibility that he may be-"

"No! I will not accept that Naruto is dead! Because-" Sasuke stopped. _Because that would mean it was my fault. _

Kakashi squeezed his shoulder and instructed Kiba and Neji to check the surrounding area with their respective talents. Neither could find anything. Not a single sign that Naruto had escaped with his life, or that he had escaped at all. At the end of the day, the only person who had not accepted that Naruto was gone was Sasuke.

It took weeks for Sasuke to finally accept that Naruto was dead. He went out and searched every day. Some of the others came out to humor him when they didn't have missions.

Finally one night when he was coming back to the village, Tsunade was waiting for him at the gate. "What do you want?"

Tsunade stepped forward to fall into step beside him. "Come and sit with me for a while."

All Sasuke really wanted was to get home and get some rest so he could go out early tomorrow and continue his search, but you didn't tell the Hokage to get lost, so he did as she asked and leaned against the wall. "Did you want to talk about something?"

Tsunade was silent for a while. "You need to let Naruto go, Sasuke. He wouldn't want you to waste your life looking for him. He would want you to live life to the fullest. That is why he risked his life to save you from Orochimaru." She pulled out the second letter that Naruto had written. Sasuke hadn't wanted to read it when she had brought it to the other's attention. She handed it to Sasuke, now. "This is his final goodbye. It would be disrespectful of you not to read it." She straightened and left Sasuke alone with his thoughts.

Sasuke stared at the letter in his hands. He tightened his fists, crumpling the letter, and shut his eyes tight. Despite his efforts, tears trailed down his face with increasing frequency. He opened his eyes and smoothed out the letter. He read it and it was just like every one of their conversations before he had left to join Orochimaru. He felt like punching the little bastard even now. Instead he smiled, even through his tears. Then he crumpled and punched the wall, making another dent in it that would have to be fixed.

"Logically I know that he is dead. Why can't I accept it? Why do I still feel that he is alive?"

"Maybe it's because that is what you want to believe." Iruka stepped out of the shadows, looking more tired than Sasuke had ever seen him. "I think the same thing every day since he's been gone. I know he's dead, but I keep expecting him to pop into my class, interrupt my lesson, and ask me to go buy him some ramen. You don't know how many times I stopped my lesson just because of a noise in the hallway. But I catch myself and continue with class until the next time." Iruka gazed down at Sasuke. "But I've finally accepted that the only place Naruto is alive is in my heart. As long as I remember him, he will be alive for me. I suspect it is the same for you Sasuke. You two may have fought constantly, but I know that Naruto considered you…his best friend." Iruka turned away and continued back home.

Sasuke stayed in the same spot for a while, thinking about Iruka's words. His best friend…_Iruka-sensei is right. Naruto, I will never forget you. But it is time to let you go._ But it was so _hard_!

Sasuke pushed away from the wall and went to Tsunade. She was waiting in her office for him. "I know he's dead, but I didn't want to accept it." He turned his gaze to the floor. "When my clan was killed, I had a purpose, something to focus on. I had revenge. But I didn't have anything like that with Naruto. We killed the demon responsible for his death so I couldn't have revenge, but I didn't want to face the fact that I was the real person to blame for his death."

"Sasuke-" Tsunade began.

"No. The night before he died, we had a fight. I told him he would never be Hokage; it would never happen no matter how strong he got. I didn't mean it and I didn't think he would pay any attention to it. But before I turned away, I saw something in his eyes break. I thought it was just my imagination. Naruto's been told too many times to count he would never be Hokage. Why would this one be any different?" Sasuke slammed his fists on the desk. "Why did he choose _now_ to listen to me, when I didn't mean anything I said?"

Tsunade was quiet, she didn't really know what to say to comfort him. "It was an accident. It was no one's fault. I don't know if your words had anything to do with his decision, but even if they did, you couldn't know what would happen. No one is at fault here."

Sasuke smiled sadly. "Logically, I know you're right, but that doesn't change how I feel." Sasuke turned and headed to the door. He paused, his back still to her. "When will you hold the memorial service?"

Tsunade's eyes got even sadder. "Jiraiya still hasn't been told. I sent some messengers to bring him back so I could tell him myself. I don't want to do it until he is able to be here. I think the boy was like a son to him. It will hurt him greatly."

Sasuke left.

*********************************break**********************************

The memorial service was bigger than expected. Sasuke and the rest of younger shinobi couldn't believe so many of the villagers had shown up. Sasuke doubted half of the people knew Naruto. As they all gathered in the front to pay their respects, Sasuke heard the last part of a conversation between two people not far behind him.

"—I'm relieved that kid is dead. Now we won't have to worry anymore about you-know-what. I feel a lot safer-"

Sasuke rose from his position quickly, as did Sakura, both intending to kill the person, but Tsunade and Jiraiya beat them to it. They both had the man by the throat.

"Jiraiya, let go. It's my job as Hokage to punish him for speaking ill of the dead."

"Naruto was my student, Tsunade. I'm the one who should teach this worthless jackass a lesson in the respect owed to the dead." He pulled the man closer to his face. "Naruto has saved this village many times in the past. He has done nothing to warrant your words."

"But he is-"

"SILENCE!" Tsunade yelled as Jiraiya pulled back his fist in preparation to punch. Tsunade grabbed his fist and pulled back her own. "I've already said that it is my duty to punish him, Jiraiya! I am Hokage! DO AS I SAY!" She punched Jiraiya, sending him back twenty yards into a pile of genin. She pulled back her fist to make good on her promise to punish the offender when Jiraiya grabbed her fist. "Let go of me you pig!"

"No!" They both pulled their fists back at the same time and punched the unfortunate man, knocking a few of his teeth loose in the process.

One academy student tugged at the bottom of Iruka's pants to get his attention, staring at the fight that had broken out between the two sannin. "Iruka-sensei, isn't it disrespectful to fight at a funeral?"

Iruka glanced down at the child. A smile slowly graced his face. "Actually, I think that this is just Naruto's style. Naruto didn't much care for propriety."

Naruto's former classmates smiled. It really did sound like Naruto.

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Okay, that was Part I. I'm sorry if it was rushed, but this is not the main part of the story. Naruto is really OOC, but I had to get him to leave the village somehow.

Thanks!


	2. Part Two: Homecoming

**A/N: **Keep in mind that this is eight years later. Naruto has grown up and had experiences that have changed him. He has also merged completely with Kyuubi so that was bound to cause some changes. Everyone else has grown up too. **Thank you all my reviewers! I love you all!**

**Part Two: Homecoming**

---Eight years later, Land of Earth---

The giant dragon, yes dragon, stared down at the insolent shinobi that dared challenge him. Never in all of his thousand years had a human dared such. "Human, do you not know who you are facing? I am over a thousand years old and the strongest demon in existence! You dare to challenge me?! No human can defeat me!"

The shinobi with what looked like a whirlpool forehead protector shrugged dismissively. "First of all, I know of at least two stronger free demons. Second of all, I am not quite human." His eyes hardened and he allowed his youki to bleed into his eyes. "I am one of the two!" Uzumaki Naruto unsheathed his sword, a gift from an old friend that he had met after he left Konoha, and immediately cut the arm of the dragon holding a knocked out child that it had been about to eat. Naruto leapt onto the falling claw and quickly grabbed the kid and jumped to the ground. To the villagers watching from across the valley it seemed that he had teleported. Naruto could have, if he had wanted to, but that would just be a needless waist of chakra. Another leap and he was across the valley and laying the kid in the mother's arms. Naruto turned back to the roaring dragon and immediately went back to the fight, blade still in hand. His back to the villagers, his eyes flashed red and he brought down the sword onto and through the dragon's neck, cutting off his head. He turned back to the villagers. They seemed to be in shock. Then the child's mother that he had saved shook out of her shock and started to run across the valley, tears streaming down her face as she clutched her child to her chest. Naruto smiled and that was the signal to the rest of the village to start cheering. Naruto then turned to the dragon's body and performed a jutsu that he had developed just because he had kept running into this problem of how to dispose of such big bodies. _"Demon Graveyard Jutsu!"_ The body of the dragon immediately turned to ash and blew away in the wind, leaving only the indent of where he fell.

The mother was the first to get to Naruto. Child still in her arms, she put her free arm around his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek. Her head fell to rest on his chest, her tears soaking through his black shirt. "Thank you so much for saving my child. I don't know what I would have done if he had died."

Naruto put his arms around the woman and patted her back. "But he didn't die, so you don't have to find out. The village suffered minimal casualties and you can rebuild the parts of the village that were destroyed. You don't have to be afraid anymore."

The village headman came up behind the woman and cleared his throat. Naruto shook his head and told the headman to continue while still comforting the woman.

"Thank you for getting here so quickly Naru-sama. I don't know how you knew the demon was on its way here but we are in your debt. Is there anything that we can do for you?"

Naruto shook his head. "I'm just lucky that the new jutsu I was trying allowed me to sense him. I was actually looking for another demon when I stumbled upon this one. I could sense its evil even from where I was." Naruto let go of the mother and child, who was waking up. "And I don't need anything. Normally I would just ask to stay here for a few days and learn a few new jutsu, but I am in a hurry to get to that demon. I am sorry I will not be able to stay and help you rebuild. Goodbye and take care of that little guy." Naruto turned to go.

The headman spoke up. "Yes, I had heard that about you. You try to learn as many jutsu as you can in order to be in top form to protect people. It is said a jutsu that would take a normal person years to master, you can do it in only a few days. If you are ever passing through this village again, be sure that you stop by. My son is actually working on a new jutsu that he is perfecting. It has something to do with the mountains. I don't know. He doesn't see fit to tell this old man anything." The headman brought his hands up to his forehead protector and took it off and held it out to Naruto. "I want you to have this. Should you ever need anything, just send this and we will do anything in our power to help."

Naruto took the forehead protector with a bow. He smiled ironically. "You know, when I was younger, I worked so hard to get a shinobi forehead protector. I had a really tough time graduating. Now it I seem to be getting them right and left." Naruto looked back up at the headman and slowly smiled. "But I have to say that I still feel great each time I get one. Thank you and goodbye." He turned to go again.

"Good luck." The headman paused. "This demon that you are looking for…Is it even stronger than this dragon?"

Naruto paused and glanced back. There was a determined look in his eyes.

"Much stronger."

*********************************break**********************************

Naruto walked through the Land of Earth a couple days later, hoping to find a nice cave where he could concentrate on the jutsu he needed to use. It required intense focus and used up a lot of chakra, even for him. But it was necessary in order to find the demon he was looking for.

Naruto finally found a suitable cave and settled down with his back to the wall, trying to get comfortable. He made a few hand signs and a blanket appeared in front of him and the new forehead protector disappeared. This was one jutsu that had come in handy in more than one occasion. He learned it early on from an ex-ninja traveler that he had saved from bandits who were going to kill him because he didn't have anything of value on him. It made it so that he no longer had to carry a bag and he didn't have to limit what he took with him. All he had to do was make a few signs to open a void that is linked with the performer's chakra and the things that you were trying to put in it disappeared in it until you called forth the void again to retrieve it. The best part was that there was no limit to what you could store and it used up minimal chakra. Hell, he even managed to find a bed that he could use if he didn't feel like sleeping in trees or on the ground. He wouldn't have had as many problems with humans when he was Kyuubi if he had had a way to store his valuables besides in his cave. The only problem had been that it was extremely difficult to learn. You had to train your mind in precision; there were other dimensions not as pleasant as the void that you didn't want to open. It was one of the most difficult jutsu that Naruto had learned, even more difficult than Rasengan.

Okay there was also another problem, Naruto thought, scowling as he pulled his to-do list out of his pocket. When there is no limit to your storage space, you tend to accumulate a lot of stuff, unlike his old small apartment. Keeping track of said stuff is very difficult if you don't keep inventory. Finding the time to do so had always been a problem for Naruto. There was always something else that he had to do. Which was why he had discovered the advantage of list-making. It helped keep everything straight in his head so that he didn't forget anything.

Naruto paused as his eyes drifted to the item on his to-do list above taking inventory. The sword at his waist pulsed, reminding him of the urgency. He had to find this demon before he caused untold damage. He had gotten delayed too many times on the way. He was the only one that could stop this demon…but first he had to find him. Naruto shifted again and finally gained a comfortable position that wouldn't leave his neck too messed up. This jutsu was one that he and his friend had perfected together and it almost always took a lot of time to complete. It allowed them to search the lands to find powerful sources of chakra, usually belonging to demons. The different sources were easily classified as either human or demon, although there were few humans that could produce enough chakra to show up with this technique.

Naruto took a deep breath and slowly let it out. _Well, it's now or never_. He made the hand signs that would put him into the trance that would allow him to find…

*********************************break*********************************

The village headman made his way to Iwagakure and the Tsuchikage. He was not stopped at the gates of either the city or the Tsuchikage's dwelling. He went straight to the Tsuchikage's office and knocked on the door. After receiving permission to enter he flung open the door. "Long time, no see…brother."

The Tsuchikage stared at his big brother, bored, before going back to his paperwork. "To what do I owe the honor of this visit?"

The headman immediately turned somber. "My village was attacked by the dragon demon."

The Tsuchikage's eyes snapped up to his brother's. "_THE_ dragon demon?!"

"Yes, Soretsuchi (**A/N:** Made up name)."

"How bad is it? How many are left? Is Soretsuchi gone yet? Are any of the buildings still standing?"

"Whoa, brother. Yes, the village was attacked but we were saved. A travelling shinobi defeated him."

The Tsuchikage's mouth dropped. "You cannot be serious. No one is powerful enough to defeat _that_ demon all on their own. An entire special jounin squad made up of our elite ninja barely even made it back alive and didn't even manage to hurt him. How could a lone shinobi manage to kill him!"

"Well, this guy did. You have probably heard of him. He goes by the name of Naru."

The Tsuchikage's eyes suddenly filled with understanding. He had heard a great deal about this travelling shinobi Naru. He had first made a name for himself seven years ago and had only gotten better since. He was compared to the Copy Ninja Kakashi in the number of jutsu that he knew, although no one knew exactly how many he had learned and no one knew how many he had developed on his own. It was truly an amazing feat for someone who did not possess the Sharingan. No one knew much about him personally, only his reputation for helping people, especially those with demon troubles, without regard to what land or village they are from. No one even knew what land he was from although all tried to claim him. Almost every village he went to, people tried any means to get him to stay. They sent him women, tried to give him money, etc. He had refused all. It seemed he didn't have any weaknesses. As a result, he had gotten the reputation of being quite the hero. He didn't want to accumulate jutsu for personal gain, he did it to better protect the people who needed it. As a result, many people who would normally guard the secrets of their jutsu with their lives were perfectly willing, no honored, to teach him. But what was really amazing was his learning ability, almost as effective as the Sharingan, and the seemingly limitless supply of chakra that he possessed. The Tsuchikage had never heard of anyone who could surpass him.

The Tsuchikage smiled wistfully. "I wish I could have seen that battle. I've always wanted to see that guy in action. He is the only one I have ever heard of besides the Forth Hokage who could defeat a demon. And he has done so over and over again. And I hear that sword of his is really something. They say he got it from the first demon that he defeated."

"And who was that, brother?"

"It was a dog demon named…"

*********************************break*********************************

"_Inutaisho!"_

Naruto's eyes flew open with the release of his jutsu. He raised his knees and rested his head in between them.

_Damn…I have to go back to Konoha and fast._

Naruto jumped to his feet and made the hand signs for teleportation. He didn't have enough chakra left to make it all the way to Konoha and still have enough to defeat Inutaisho, but he could at least get halfway there. _"Teleport Jutsu!"_ As soon as the mist cleared, Naruto took off in the direction of Konoha, running as fast as he could. He had to get there before Inutaisho started going crazy.

*********************************break*********************************

Sasuke got up that morning with a weird feeling. Something was going to happen today. He didn't know what, but he knew it would change his life forever. He got up and took his ritual morning shower to wake himself up, putting on his Anbu uniform and mask before reporting to the Hokage to see if she had another mission for him. He made it to the Hokage's office without any of his numerous fangirls attacking him, which was always a plus. Upon gaining permission to enter, he opened the door and walked to stand before the Hokage's massive desk, which was stacked almost ceiling high with requests for Konoha shinobi. Tsunade was getting behind in her paperwork again and still hadn't developed any organizational skills, as the chaos that was her desk clearly showed. She motioned for him to sit, still reading the mission requests. The door opened again and Neji entered. Sasuke nodded to him. He wasn't surprised to see the other man. They were often partnered on missions where the greatest degree of stealth or speed was required. The mission must be really big if they were going to work together on it.

Finally she looked up and addressed them both. "Neji, take a seat. Now, I know you are both the best that Konoha has to offer and I only give you the most difficult missions, as it should be for two ninja's as talented as you two. But desperate times call for desperate measures." Tsunade motioned to her desk and took out two pieces of paper and handed one to each Anbu captain. "I have to get some of these off my desk and restore some order. You two can get these missions done with the least amount of effort and time. I know it is a waste of your talent and may be interpreted an insult by you, but the sanity of your Hokage should be more important to you than your pride." Tsunade burst into tears. "I WANT MY DESK BACK! I WANT TO EAT JELLY DONUTS WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT MESSING UP MULTIPLE MISSION REQUESTS! I WANT TO BE ABLE TO TAKE NAPS WITHOUT CAUSING AN AVALANCHE!" The fifth Hokage wailed, sobbing hysterically into her arms, causing the aforementioned avalanche.

The two Anbu captains both looked at the pieces of paper. They were lists. Each had about a couple hundred tasks on them.

Walk Hikomaru's dog.

Clean the Shirodure clan's house.

Build dam for irrigation purposes in the southern farming area.

Find Tora (again).

etc.

They both looked back at each other, both thinking the same thing. This was the sort of missions they used to do as genin. Were there no more challenging missions for them?

Sasuke cleared his throat. "Hokage-sama, surely you have a mission more challenging than this list of chores? I haven't had a D ranked mission since I was a genin. You must have plenty of genin to do these things for you."

Tsunade went back to wailing. "I have plenty of genin, but not enough to make a dent in this huge stack of papers! You guys should be able to make short work of these tasks, as you two are the only ones that have perfected the Kage Benshin no Jutsu who are not out on missions at the moment. You two would be helping me get rid of a fourth of my papers just by completing those two lists! When you get done with those, I have another two for you."

Sasuke looked at Neji and they both sighed. "Go ahead and give us the other lists now, it will go faster that way. And if you have more, then give us those too. Might as well get them done all at once." Sasuke turned to Neji and asked. "How many clones can you make again?"

"About a hundred and fifty. Half that if I want them to have a decent amount of chakra."

"It is probably a good idea to let them have a nice supply of chakra so I can make a hundred. We should be able to get all these tasks done today."

Tsunade leapt from her chair and hugged Sasuke, crying hysterically in relief. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! I promise to give you two a week off after this. You have no idea how much I appreciate this!"

While Sasuke was trying to pry Tsunade off him and Neji was trying to hold in his laughter, the door suddenly burst open and a hysterical Shizune rushed in. "Hokage we have a problem! An enormous dog is heading towards the village, attacking everything in its way. It destroyed Tsuachi Mountain! We have to mount a defense immediately in order to keep it from flattening the village!"

Tsunade immediately got off of Sasuke and ordered them to gather all available shinobi and send them prepared for battle to the front gate for orders. Neji and Sasuke disappeared in a puff of smoke to do as she asked. Ten minutes later all available shinobi were in front of the west gate of Konoha, awaiting the Hokage's orders.

Tsunade stood on top of the front gate where she had no problem seeing the huge dog demon that was heading towards the village. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to his attacks. He didn't go after living things in particular. He attacked everything that moved and even some things that didn't. Even Kyuubi hadn't been that indiscriminately destructive. She turned to address her shinobi. "At all costs we have to protect the village. Shikamaru, take five teams to engage the dog while you hold back and observe with two more teams. Look for any possible weaknesses. Take Kiba and Akamaru. Maybe he can get something off the thing. Shizune, Sakura, Hinata, you three stand by and look out for any injured. Sasuke, Neji, you two will stay with me with the rest of the shinobi. We will be the last line of defense for the village. "

Shikamaru and his teams raced towards the demon. He stopped when he was about a hundred yards from the huge dog. He motioned for Kiba to hang back for a moment.

Kiba did as he was told and stood beside Shikamaru in order to observe the demon before attacking. He looked up at it and couldn't help but be a little in awe of the size and majesty of it, even in its current frenzy. The teams of shinobi attacked the demon and he just brushed them off like fleas. They were like fleas to him, they were so small by comparison. One Chuunin tried to attack his eyes and almost got crushed by an eyelid when he blinked. Nothing seemed to work against the demon.

Shikamaru turned to Kiba. "This is not good. What do you think Kiba? Could you take it?"

Kiba didn't take his eyes off the giant demon as he gave his answer. "Are you crazy? I doubt the Forth could even take him. This dog isn't a regular dog, he's a _demon_. I think that seeing me would just enrage him more. He would see me as a rival for his territory."

Shikamaru nodded in understanding. Unfortunately, he didn't see any weaknesses that could be exploited. He had one idea, but he had the feeling that he would need more men to execute it. "Everyone, fall back to the last defense! Fall back!"

Tsunade wished she was surprised to see the team running back towards them. Shikamaru stopped in front of her with Kiba beside him. "It doesn't seem to have any weak points. It's just too big. Kiba thinks that it would only enrage it if he confronted it."

Tsunade nods, he seemed to have some idea, but he didn't seem too confident in it. "Do you have a plan, Shikamaru?" 

Shikamaru turned to examine the shinobi that haven't been injured by the dog. Luckily no one had been killed yet. "I think that maybe a fireball jutsu would do some damage. One wouldn't do much, but if we all did it at the same time, it would at least injure it. With enough pain, it would be forced to retreat to heal, giving us time to regroup and recall all shinobi currently on missions. With them here, we would stand a chance if it chooses to attack again."

Tsunade nodded, they really had no other choice. She really didn't want to follow in the Fourth's footsteps and die sealing a demon into a new born baby. She didn't think that she could condemn an innocent child to the kind of suffering Naruto had endured. Plus, no babies were being born anytime soon, so it wasn't as if it was an option anyway. "Everyone, surround the demon and attack with fire-type jutsu! Try to drive him back the way he came! If this doesn't work, be prepared to fight!"

They got in formation, with Tsunade, Neji, and Sasuke at the head, as they had the strongest fire-type jutsu. On Tsunade's signal they all attacked. Sasuke was in the center since the Uchihas were known for their fire jutsu. He concentrated his chakra in his feet and jumped, landing on the huge nose of the demon before unleashing his jutsu, giving the demon a good look at him. "_Phoenix flower Jutsu_!"

The demon roared as all parts of his body were exposed to the fire. Sasuke was thrown off his head with a shake and was slammed against the wall. Blood shot from his mouth as he fell to the ground. He was hurt, but he immediately got up to fight.

"Damn!" Tsunade yelled, landing beside Sasuke. "It weakened him, but I think we mostly just pissed him off." She jumped up for another attack.

The beast finally stopped his roaring and growled menacingly, his head swinging wildly around, trying to find the one that had caused him such pain. His rage-filled red eyes landed on Sasuke and his growl increased in intensity.

Shikamaru saw something flash from the corner of his eye. He turned his head and saw a masked shinobi of an unknown village at the edge of the forest who seemed to be examining the battle. Shikamaru turned his attention back to the demon, who seemed to be targeting Sasuke exclusively now. The unknown shinobi could be dealt with later. He shouldn't be too hard to subdue. Lee had more chakra than this guy did.

Examining was not what Naruto was doing. He saw all he needed to know at a glance at the rest of the battlefield. No one seemed to be dead, but a few were seriously injured. But the growl that Inutaisho let out got his attention. He turned to see who had gotten the dog's attention and his heart almost stopped when he saw huge claws heading straight for Sasuke.

Knowing he could not possibly dodge, Sasuke closed his eyes and braced himself to take the hit. It never came. He opened his eyes and saw what looked like Kakashi at first glance. Then he noticed that this guy had blond hair, blue eyes, and a weird forehead protector. The unidentified shinobi had stopped the demon's claw!

The shinobi gritted his teeth as the beast pressed his claws harder into his back. "Get the others back into the village. You guys have no chance of defeating him. He is my responsibility. I'll distract him until everyone is through the gate." The shinobi threw the paw off his shoulders and jumped forward to crouch beside Sasuke.

Sasuke smirked. "You have no idea who you are talking to. I'm more capable than you are. I'd be surprised if you could beat Tonton, the Hokage's pet pig. How do you plan on defeating a demon that not even all the available shinobi in Konoha can defeat?"

"With this." He said gesturing to the rusted sword at his hip.

Sasuke laughed. "That old thing? It couldn't even cut butter. Why don't you just bang it with your head? It's thick enough to do at least _some_ damage."

Naruto growled. The bastard was still as arrogant as he was the day he left. "And that is why you were almost torn in half by the big guy. You are a shinobi; you should have learned by now that appearances can be deceiving. Or are you as ignorant as you are ungrateful?"

Sasuke wanted to punch the guy. Who did he think he was? But something in the other man's eyes gave him pause. The guy was right; he had been jumping to conclusions. Now that he was paying closer attention, he could see that this was an experienced shinobi. He might not seem like much in the way of chakra, but he had a look in his eyes that only battle hardened ninja ever get. He must be more skilled than he seemed. He still didn't think that that sword would be of much use, but he would keep his doubts to himself and be ready to take up where he left off if/when this guy failed. Sasuke didn't know why, but for some reason he trusted him to protect this village. Sasuke straightened. "Everyone get behind the gate! Fall back!"

Most of the other shinobi immediately followed Sasuke's order. Only Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, Hinata, and Tsunade were left. They all lined up behind the unidentified shinobi.

Naruto glanced behind him before leaping up to the dog's level and smashing the dogs head into the ground. He jumped back. "Everyone get behind the wall."

Stunned, most of them did as they were told. Only Tsunade stayed. She smirked. "You think that I'm going to let some stranger save this village on his own? I'm Hokage and as such it is my responsibility-"

"Baa-chan, get behind the wall or I will throw you over my shoulder and put you there myself." Naruto couldn't help but smirk behind his mask at this. He had dreamed of the day he would be strong enough to do exactly as he said.

In a rage, Tsunade leapt at the impertinent shinobi. Naruto caught her and, true to his word, threw a kicking and screaming Hokage over his shoulder, strode to the gate and tossed her at Sasuke. He then turned his attention to the wall itself. He made various handsigns in quick succession. A bright red light spread into a dome, covering the Leaf Village. Naruto then turned his attention to the demon. The barrier should be able to hold, even if the demon fell onto it. The village was damaged enough as it was.

"That little bastard called me Grandmother! Who does he think he is? He better still be alive after this so I can kill him!" Tsunade yelled, beating on the barrier that refused to let her out.

Shizune sweatdropped. She hadn't seen Tsunade this worked up since Naruto was alive. And that man she had just called 'little' had about a foot and a half on her.

Neji examined the barrier. "Amazing. This barrier's strength surpasses what Suichi, Kura, and Numi on my team can produce working together. And they could never make one that would cover the entire village." His gaze shifted to Naruto, who was currently busy trying not to get bitten in half. "He didn't seem to have enough chakra to even make a small barrier, much less one of this magnitude. Who is this guy and how is he hiding his chakra? Sasuke, can you make anything out with your Sharingan?"

Sasuke activated his Sharingan to see, but for some reason he couldn't see any more chakra than he had originally sensed. "I can't see anything. What about Byakugan?"

Neji activated his Byakugan and his mouth fell open in shock. "I can't see anything. Not even his chakra flow or his chakra holes! There is something strange about this guy."

Naruto dodged Inutaisho's tail. He could tell he was weakening. In a few more minutes Naruto would be able to finish him. He was surprised; he had expected it to take much longer. Last time they had fought it had taken him three days to beat him. They must have worn the demon down more than he had thought. He was proud of his friends; they had grown up to be truly excellent shinobi. And he had no doubt that they would be able to protect their home from whatever was thrown at them. They might have ended up beating Inutaisho if they had been given more time. But it wouldn't have been without cost.

Naruto was forcefully reminded to keep his head in the fight when a claw caught him across the stomach and slammed him into the barrier. He slid to the ground and then got back on his feet. _It's time to finish this._

He drew his sword, Tetsusaiga. The sword changed from old and rusted to a huge sword that looked like the wielder shouldn't even be able to lift it. He leapt away from the barrier, swinging the sword at the same time. "Kaze no Kizu!" Bursts of energy went crashing towards the demon, hitting it head on and pushing him back away from the village.

The people on the other side of the barrier were in shock. Sakura was the first to break the silence. "Wh-what kind of jutsu was that?"

Tsunade, still staring at the battle in front of her, answered, "That was not a jutsu. It was a demonic attack. That is a demon sword made from a part of a demon, most likely the fang. It takes a very skilled and special sword smith to make one of these swords. Not many people can use them effectively without being taken over by the blade. I don't know anyone that has even _seen_ a demon blade, they are that rare."

Naruto wasn't paying anyone on the other side of the barrier any attention anymore. He had learned his lesson and was totally focused on the battle. This would be the end. He quickly feinted to the right before leaping into the air and landing a bone-crunching punch on the dog's forehead, right in the middle of his crescent moon. Naruto jumped off of his nose, released the barrier, and sheathed Tetsusaiga. The dog's body crashed to the ground.

Everyone rushed out to thank the mysterious shinobi who saved their village. Tsunade wasn't quite as mad as before. She marched up to Naruto and punched him in the mouth. "Don't call me baa-chan, you bastard!"

Laughter was heard coming from where the demon had fallen. Everyone looked over, expecting to see the body of the demon, but instead seeing a silver haired man getting to his feet. "Still refusing to show people the proper respect, eh Naru?"

The women present almost feinted. This man was perfect. Tall, with long silver hair tied back in a ponytail and a perfect face. He was carrying two swords, wearing armor, and had two fluffy boa looking things across either shoulder. He also had a purple crescent moon on his forehead and cute elflike ears.

Tsunade got into a battle stance after wiping the drool from her chin. Too bad she was too old for him. And too bad he was a demon. "Evidently the thank yous were a little bit premature. No way are you excluding me from _this_ fight."

The godlike creature laughed. "Don't worry, my lady. I'm not going to hurt anyone." He sobered and turned serious eyes to Naruto. He came forward and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Thank you again, my friend. I got a little distracted by this delectable woman in a neighboring village and got delayed for too long. The transformation took me by surprise. I barely had time to vacate the village before the transformation completely took me over."

Tsunade relaxed slightly, but was still ready in case of an attack, as were the rest of the shinobi except for the one that the demon called Naru. He was standing by the demon looking exasperated, but relaxed. "You do know that your weakness for beautiful women will be the death of you, don't you? I hope she was worth it." _Why do I always get stuck with perverts?_

Inutaisho smiled smugly. "Oh she was." He purred. Tsunade cleared her throat to remind them of their audience and wiped the drool off her chin again. "Oh, where are my manners? Naru, your bad habits have rubbed off on me. We haven't even introduced ourselves."

"Take that back! I don't have bad manners. I just don't always introduce myself because it tends to cause problems." Naruto grumbled.

"Well, that's true, but they should know our names as we will be staying here to help with the clean up for the next few weeks. I'm Inutaisho-"

Naruto grabbed him by his ponytail and dragged him to the edge of the forest throwing an "Excuse us for a moment," over his shoulder.

Inutaisho snatched his ponytail back. "What the hell, Naru? Were you trying to pull all my hair from my head?"

Naruto glared at his friend. "Did you have to volunteer me to help too? You know that this is my home village. What if someone recognizes me?"

Inutaisho rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Actually, I didn't really know what village this was. So this is where you grew up and the legendary Kyuubi met an end?" He looked around until his eyes rested on the Hokage monument. "And that is where you wanted your face carved? Personally I don't think stone does much for a person. Look at the Yondaime. He was much more personable in real life. Why, it doesn't even show the sparkle in his eyes or the love he had for this village and for life. He just looks all imposing. He hardly ever looked like that except in battle." He studied Tsunade's likeness. "And the current Hokage is much more beautiful and it doesn't even show how magnificent her brea-"

"You are trying to change the subject. And gross me out." He shuddered. "I can't stay here. What if someone recognizes me and the elders find out I'm back? I'm lucky I haven't been added to the missing-nin list. I was naïve in thinking they would let me go without a fight where the Akatsuki could possibly capture me. Luckily this disguise works wonders."

Inutaisho scoffed. "It's not like they could keep you here even if they found out. You're a demon now and way above them in power. If you wanted to you could destroy this whole village with just the release of your chakra. You are even stronger now than you were as Kyuubi alone. They would be stupid to try to take both of us on."

"There is also the fact that I don't want to hurt my friends by leaving again. They seem to be doing fine without me."

"There's another reason you aren't telling me, isn't there?"

Naruto stared off into the distance sadly. "I don't want them to find out that I'm a demon. One of the reasons I left the village in the first place was to avoid that. I don't want them to hate me."

"Well, if they hate you just for being a demon, they aren't very good friends are they? I like you just fine the way you are!" Inutaisho slung his arm around Naruto's shoulder. "Plus, I think you miss them. You have hardly any real friends besides me and we don't see each other very often. You need some emotional ties to keep from becoming too much of a demon. You are still human in here." He tapped Naruto's heart. "You need human contact to remind you of that."

Naruto smiled. "I _would_ like the chance to see how everyone has been doing and what they have been up to. I know that Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru are Anbu captains, but that's about it." Naruto thought back to his nearly empty frog. "I also need to earn some more money. I'm getting pretty low on funds. And I can use this time to take that inventory I've been meaning to get around to." After all this time, he still felt safe here. Which was ironic considering this was the place where he was in the most danger. If anyone were to find out that he was here, the elders and the Akatsuki would both be after him.

"That's the spirit! We need to help rebuild this place to make up for all the trouble we caused."

Naruto stopped. "_WE_ caused? I believe it was you who went on a rampage and caused all this damage."

"Well, I wouldn't have done so much damage if you had been a little more prompt in answering the Tetsusaiga's call."

"I was saving a village! You know that dragon fellow I used to hate so much? Well he was attacking a village in the Land of Earth. I saw his chakra signature when I was searching for yours. He came out for his ritual feast of children and I couldn't just let him kill all those children. You know how I feel about children and that was before Kyuubi and I merged. And you know how _Kyuubi_ felt about children."

Inutaisho nodded. "Yes, Kyuubi may have hated humans, but could never hate children no matter what species they were. It was your one weakness."

They joined the others. Inutaisho cleared his throat. "Now, where was I? Oh yes, my name is Inutaisho." He leaned over the lovely Tsunade's hand and kissed it. "And what might your name be lovely lady?" He said seductively, ignoring Naru who was gagging in the background.

Tsunade blushed and jerked her hand back. "I may not look it, young man, but I am too old for you. Not that I wouldn't love to try you out, but I don't want to be accused of robbing the cradle."

Inutaisho laughed. "No matter how old you may be, you would still be an infant compared to me. I would be 'robbing the cradle' as you put it no matter how old you may be under that jutsu. I may not look it, but I'm about ten thousand years old. As long as you can keep up with me, I don't care."

Naruto recovered from his gagging spell. "Tsunade baa-chan, don't listen to this smooth talker! He just wants to get in your-OWWWWW!" Tsunade hit him over the head.

"Brat! I told you not to call me that!" _Stupid boy, he should be old enough to know better._

Inutaisho was surprised at Naruto. He usually was silent during his 'spells' as Naruto liked to call them. Whenever they had traveled together, Inutaisho would stop whenever he saw a pretty human woman and try to seduce her. He usually succeeded. Naruto usually just rolled his eyes and went to find somewhere quiet to meditate or practice jutsu until he was done. Naruto was reserved around other people, probably the result of having to be suspicious of everyone that he met. He had learned early on that most people couldn't be trusted and would do almost anything to keep a power like him close at hand. For every nice, polite offer he got, he got another who would attempt to keep him by force. None succeeded, but a few had gotten close in the early days, especially before he had met Inutaisho. It tended to make a person wary. But here it was like all his inhibitions were gone. He was still on his guard, but it was like he felt safe. Inutaisho pondered this for a moment. Maybe he should delay leaving as long as possible. No one should have to live the life that Naruto did—a life full of loneliness without a place to call home. He should know. Until Naruto became his friend, he didn't have anyone he could trust either.

"Who are you anyway?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

"It's rude to ask for someone's name without giving your own first." Naruto said, trying to buy time. Should he come up with a new name? But people could recognize him by his description. For some reason, stories of his exploits had taken off and he had heard that there was even a book about them, called "The Demon Slayer" or something like that.

Sasuke looked annoyed. "Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura raised her hand in a wave. "Sakura."

"Shikamaru."

"Kiba and Akamaru." Akamaru let out a loud "WOOF."

"Shizuka."

"Hyuga Neji."

"I'm Hinata." She said shyly.

_Well, might as well risk it_. "I'm Naru." No reaction.

Tsunade cleared her throat. But before she could speak, someone else did.

"What _happened_ here?!" Ino, Choji, and Shino had come back from their mission. They were currently looking at the smashed section of the wall and the wreckage of the buildings. "Were we attacked?" Ino turned toward the Hokage and caught sight of Naruto. _Oh my, he is hot! It's a shame that he hides his face behind that mask._ Then she saw Inutaisho and her mouth hit her chest.

Naruto turned to Inutaisho. "Why do you always get that reaction?"

He smirked. "What can I say, the girls just love me."

Naruto snorted. "Yes, until they get to know you. Then they find out how big a pervert you are."

Inutaisho winked at Ino suggestively. "_Big_ being the operative word."

Sakura took Ino (who had almost fainted when she heard what Inutaisho said) and the rest aside to explain what happened to them. Ino sighed, disappointed that that gorgeous man was a demon. It would just never work out. He wouldn't get any older and when she died of old age, he would still live and spend the rest of eternity heartbroken, never able to love again. He would probably go on a rampage to try and get away from the grief. She couldn't in good conscience do that to anyone. He will just have to understand that it's for his own good.

Ino turned her attention back to the blond, Naru. Now where had she heard that name before? It might have come from one of her little cousin's books. There was some sort of hero named Naru that went around killing demons, righting wrongs, and protecting the weak or something like that. It was kinda dramatic. The hero went from village to village learning jutsu so he could get stronger so as to better protect people. Many women threw themselves at the hero, but he always refused their advances. The author sounded like she was in love with the guy. In the end there was a paragraph wondering if Naru would ever find his soul mate and finally settle down to raise a family and live happily ever after. Her cousin didn't like it much because the author glossed over the battles too much and spent most of her time describing the way the sunlight caught the red streaks in Naru's hair and wondering about the mysterious face behind the mask. He much preferred the other, much more popular, version of the book which consisted of almost all battle scenes. Ino absolutely refused to read this book to him. It had absolutely _no _romance in it. But the hero did remind her of this Naru. From the drawings in Ino's favorite version she could tell that he kinda looked like this guy too. He couldn't be…no, her hero was a demon slayer and there was no way that a demon slayer would have a demon as a best friend, even if he seemed to be a good demon. Maybe that's where this guy got his look from. He _was_ handsome…maybe she should make a try for him? But his chakra signature seemed weak. She couldn't have a weak boyfriend. But he did beat the other demon…so maybe he was like Lee and could do just fine without being able to use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. She could deal with that.

Naruto was oblivious to Ino's intentions. He was just glad that they hadn't heard of him and didn't connect the name.

Tsunade was calculating. They were still short of ninjas, so having these two would come in handy. They couldn't tell their clients that Inutaisho was a demon for obvious reasons, but there was no reason that they didn't need to use what they offered. "I will need some extra hands for missions. The amount of people needed to rebuild after the damage you caused will leave me short staffed. And you need to make up for the injuries and trouble you caused."

Inutaisho looked around. "Where are the injured people?" He turned his eyes to Naruto. "I didn't kill anyone did I?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

"Why do you want to know where the injured are? Do you want to apologize to them?" Sakura asked.

"Something like that."

"They are on the other side of the wall. We set up a makeshift hospital there. There are a few who are in critical condition though so you'll have to wait to talk to them."

"Lead me to them first."

"But I just told you-"

Tsunade interrupted her. "Do as he says Sakura." She wanted to know what he was up to.

Everyone followed Sakura and Inutaisho to the hospital and up to a tent where the three critical patients were. Everyone gasped at one of the patients. None of them had known that Lee had been injured. Tenten was by his bedside and leapt up to stand in front of Lee's bed with kunai in her hands. "What is _he_ doing here? Why is he not dead?" She had caught a glimpse of him as she was dragging Lee to the hospital. She had thought he was dead or she would have come back and killed him for putting her friend in this condition.

"Move aside."

"So you can finish the job? Never! My friend will never be able to see again, he might not even live!"

"I'm sorry about Lee, Tenten. Although I don't think that it is a good idea for us all to be in here, he wants to apologize. Do you think we would be here too if he was still dangerous?" Tsunade interjected.

Neji was silent but his fists clinched. He would have punched the demon, damn the consequences, if he hadn't seen the sadness on his face. He really didn't mean to do this to his friend and self-proclaimed rival, but that didn't fix Lee. "Let him by Tenten. He just wants to apologize."

Tenten paused. "But Neji-"

"Just do it."

Tenten reluctantly moved out of the way. Inutaisho stepped forward and stopped at Lee's bedside. "Naru."

Naruto nodded, understanding immediately. "Understood." He stepped away from the group and placed a barrier around them as Inutaisho drew one of his swords.

Tenten and the others beat on the barrier, yelling. "You traitor!" She glared at Naruto. "You're just as bad as he is. Worse even! He is a demon so we should have expected something like this from him, but you pretended to save this village. Did you just want to get inside the village without battling your way in?"

Naru glared at Tenten. "If we wanted to kill someone, why would we start with a Chuunin when we could have just killed the Hokage? Just shut up and watch."

Tenten wasn't listening to reason and continued to yell at Naru. Sasuke got fed up with it and clamped his hand over the girl's mouth. "As your captain, I am ordering you to remain silent." What Naru had said made sense. He didn't know what was going on or what was up with that sword, but it was emitting a strange energy.

Inutaisho ignored all the other people in the room. He raised his sword and brought it down across Lee's chest. He vaguely heard the girl from before scream through Sasuke's hand, but didn't pay her any attention. They had learned long ago that it didn't do any good to explain what this sword was for. He moved to the other beds and did the same to them. He then strode past Naruto and told them to keep them that way until they didn't want to kill him anymore.

Naruto nodded and smiled when he heard Lee groan behind him. Tenten was sobbing against Neji's chest. Naruto went up to the barrier. "Hey Tenten."

"I don't have anything to say to you, bastard! Let me out of this thing so I can kill you!"

Naruto sighed. "Most people react this way which is the reason for the barrier. If only people would be more trusting…But I guess that wouldn't be a good thing either. I mean, if you trusted everyone who came to your village you wouldn't stay alive long. But that's not the point. Look over at the bed and see if you still want to kill either of us."

Tenten growled, but couldn't stop herself from looking over at the bed. She gasped as did the rest of them. Lee's hand was on the bandages around his eyes, trying to peal them off. "Hey, would somebody get these bandages off? I have to get out there and fight! I have to protect my beloved Sakura!"

Sakura blushed. "Lee, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not yours!"

A grin lit up Lee's face. His beloved was there! Then he frowned, taking stock of his body. He remembered being injured and the pain, but there didn't seem to be any now. He also remembered not being able to see, but there didn't seem to be anything wrong with his eyes now, so why were they still bandaged?

Naruto walked over to Lee and gently unwrapped his bandages over his eyes. As long as they hadn't been completely missing, they should be alright now.

"Hey don't do that! I just got done wrapping those. The bleeding might start again if they are removed."

Naruto ignored her. Finally the bandages were gone, but the blood from the wound was still all over his face. Lee tried to open his eyes but his lids were glued shut because of all the dried blood. Naruto got some warm water and a rag to wash away the blood. He heard groans from the other two beds, but ignored them. "Lee, keep your eyes closed. I'm going to wash away the blood."

_Naruto? But no, he is dead, he cannot be here! Or am I dead? That would explain why I suddenly feel great after being so severely injured. Or I could be hallucinating. Yes, that makes more sense. Sakura was here so I cannot be dead. Or did she die too? Oh no, I cannot let my beloved be dead!_ "I am not dead am I?" he asked urgently.

The person cleaning his face paused, almost finished. "No, why do you ask?"

Lee breathed a sigh of relief. His beloved was safe! But why was Naruto there?

"Okay, now you can open your eyes."

Lee was just about to ask Naruto what he was doing there when he opened his eyes and looked at the person that he had thought was Naruto. He squinted. He could have sworn that this guy was Naruto. Well, it had been eight years. His memories would understandably be a little hazy. He decided not to mention it. Uchiha always got all moody, well more moody than usual, and left whenever his old teammate was mentioned. Then Sakura-chan would get all mad at him and go after Sasuke. "Who are you?"

"Naru."

Wow, even the name was similar. Lee glanced at the rest of the group who seemed to be busy drooling all over themselves in shock at something. But, none of them seemed to see anything strange about the guy or notice the similarities between him and their former friend. He was right not to mention anything. "So, how long was I out? I guess we defeated the demon, but I must have been out a long time for all my injuries to be healed."

"All of your injuries are healed?" Neji asked, astonished. His former teammate had looked near death when they had walked into the tent.

Naru glanced at the others, smirking. "Well, you see, Inutaisho's sword cannot cut. He created it because of his transformations. If he goes too long in his humanoid form, his youki forces a transformation and he loses all sense of self. He had Tenseiga made to heal all the people he injured. He has always been fascinated by humans and never wished to harm innocent people. He is one of the few demons who doesn't eat or even kill humans. He actually prefers his humanoid form; it just doesn't allow his youki to escape as well as his demon form. We knew you wouldn't understand and would probably try to stop him so we had to contain you in a way that wouldn't hurt you." He and Inutaisho had decided not to tell anyone about the sword's other ability. It could only cause problems if people found out that the sword could bring people back from the dead. People would come after the sword and, even though they couldn't use it, they could become a nuisance. It was bad enough when people knew just the basic power of the sword. If they found out that it could raise the dead, there was no telling how much trouble would result.

"So let us out already, idiot." Sasuke growled. Something about this guy rubbed him the wrong way.

"Bastard." Naruto grumbled, but released the barrier.

_Wow, Sasuke and this guy even argue the same way that Naruto and Sasuke used to_, Lee thought to himself.

Sakura and Tenten rushed to Lee's bedside and Sakura checked him over with her chakra, finding absolutely no injuries. She went to the two other patients who seemed to still be sleeping and found the same applied to them. "They are all completely healed. I've never seen anything like this. I can't heal people this completely even with my medical jutsu. That sword is incredible."

"Yes, but it is a demon sword, so only a select few would be able to use it. Few people understand demon energy well enough to control it. It takes an extraordinary amount of chakra to control and then the sword can only be used in the way the original owner intended. So the sword would be virtually useless to anyone who would try to take it." Tsunade explained, mainly to assure Naru they would not try to steal the sword.

Naruto nodded in thanks. Inutaisho walked back into the tent and Tenten approached him with her head down. "Thank you. I'm sorry that I yelled at you."

Inutaisho lifted her chin to look at him. "I understood. I was the one responsible for his injuries so it was understandable and even expected that you would act like that. It is I who should apologize to you."

Tenten hadn't realized before, but the demon was extraordinarily handsome. She blushed. She really shouldn't be thinking these thoughts.

Inutaisho smiled and released her chin to look at Tsunade. "I have healed all your injured shinobi. They should sleep for a while; those I use Tenseiga on usually sleep for about twenty hours. I have no idea why your friend is so active."

"Youth waits for no one!" Lee's fist shot up into the air just as Gai-sensei's always did.

Inutaisho sweatdropped, but the rest of them were used to it. Naruto almost giggled at the look on his face but stopped himself in time. What was going on with him? He never giggled anymore; he had outgrown that when he left the village. Plus it looked ridiculous when someone as big as he was giggled. If he didn't watch it everyone would find out just who he was.

Inutaisho finally shook the weirdness that was Lee off and got back to business. "Most of your shinobi will be useless to you for the next day. Would you like for us to start rebuilding the wall or do you have something else for us to do?"

Tsunade thought for a moment. She examined the warriors in front of her. All looked exhausted, with the exception of Lee, Kiba (who had stayed away from the fight at the order of Tsunade), Ino, Choji, Shino, and Naru. Even Inutaisho looked like he was about to fall over, understandable after healing all those people (it was really the release of his youki that exhausted him but she didn't know that). "No, I think I will allow you to get some rest for now. Lee and Kiba will round up the shinobi who are fit to stand guard. Make up a watch schedule and have the regular two guards at the front gate and five at the section of the wall that was destroyed. Ino, Choji, and Shino, after you submit your report I would like for you to report to Lee or Kiba and sign up for a watch. Inutaisho and Naru, you will start tomorrow after you have gotten some rest. Inutaisho, I think I will have you help with the wall." The elders would probably have a heart attack as it was, no sense in angering them even more by sending a demon on missions. Plus, she wasn't as trusting as she seemed. She needed to keep an eye on Inutaisho where there were several shinobi ready if he decided to go on another rampage. Naru, she wasn't as worried about. Sure, he had stopped Inutaisho, but he didn't seem to have much chakra. But there was the matter of the barriers and the fact that both Byakugan and the Sharingan couldn't uncover his secrets. He had to be more than he seemed. "Naru, you will be partnered with Sasuke and Neji. They were about to start on a series of missions before the attack. They are nothing too difficult. Just a few quick jobs." Tsunade wanted her strongest and most observant people watching him. They would be able to uncover his secrets before anyone else would. "Sasuke, I want Naru to stay with you at the Uchiha mansion. He will be your responsibility. Inutaisho will stay with me." Inutaisho smirked. Tsunade rolled her eyes. "In a _separate_ room, under Anbu guard. I may not think you are a threat, but I will not be fool enough to trust you completely."

Sasuke was furious. What had happened to his promise of a week off? Not that he wouldn't have been bored to tears if he actually had a week off, but he definitely would have preferred it to having to baby sit this idiot. He would be lucky not to have killed him by the end of the week. But he didn't argue because the Hokage had given an order and, as an Anbu captain, refusing the Hokage was not an option.

Naruto, however, was torn. On one hand he was happy he would be able to spend time with his best friend, even if said best friend didn't know it was him. On the other hand, he didn't want Sasuke to recognize him. He also didn't think they could live together and not kill each other, even if Naruto had grown up a lot. How he had been acting toward Sasuke since he had met him again proved he hadn't gotten any better at controlling his emotions toward the other man. But what choice did he have? He couldn't just ask for his old apartment back; it was probably occupied by someone else by now. There was no telling what they had done with his things. He would have preferred to just sleep in a tree. He had gotten used to them over the years.

Tsunade dismissed them and left with Inutaisho, Ino, Choji, Shino, and Shizune to hear a report on the team's mission. Naruto followed Sasuke with Sakura close behind. She was worried about Sasuke. He never had much patience with other people and might cause trouble with the other man. He was an unknown and, while she was sure Sasuke would be able to handle him in a fight, she didn't want any more trouble than necessary.

Sasuke stopped. "Sakura go home. I know what you are doing, but you don't have to worry about me."

"But Sasuke-"

"Just go."

Sakura stopped arguing with him and did as he asked. She had learned long ago to just let him be when he was like this. They had gotten closer since Naruto's death. Not as close as she would have liked, but she had learned to let that dream go and they were closer for it. She wouldn't be the love of Sasuke's life but she would be his closest friend. She was the one who tried to take his mind off their friend's death; not that it worked, but at least she was occasionally able to coax a smile from him. Even after all these years, he was still hung up in the past. He had felt more for their former teammate than he would admit, even to himself. Sakura didn't think even the closest of lovers would have mourned to the extent that Sasuke still mourned. And the bad part was he didn't even realize it and Sakura knew better than to even suggest what she was thinking. It would probably just make matters worse. They had been young when Naruto died; too young for what she was thinking. If Naruto had been around a few years later, she was sure there would have been an explosion between the two boys. She had been too innocent at the time to see the feelings the boys had for each other, but looking back she knew that if she had had the knowledge she had now she would have known she had never had a chance with Sasuke. She might have had a brief chance with Naruto until he figured out his true feelings, but she wouldn't have been able to make it last with either of them and it never would have compared to what Sasuke and Naruto could have shared. Sakura firmly believed Sasuke had lost more than a friend when Naruto died…he had lost his soul mate.

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Well, that was a surprise wasn't it? Lee actually noticed Naru's resemblance to Naruto before anyone else. But will he put two and two together and find out the truth?

Hope you like the story and review if you want to!


	3. Part Three: The Trails of Fame

Part Three: The Trials of Fame

Naruto sat down on the bed and was finally able to peel off his shirt and see to his wound. He was lucky nobody had noticed he was injured besides Inutaisho, who knew that he was uncomfortable with anyone seeing him without his shirt. He didn't want anyone to question why he didn't have a scar or even a wound in the morning.

He had to rip his shirt away from the wound as the blood had seeped into the fabric making it impossible to take off without reopening it. He examined the opening in his stomach where the seal used to be. He could see some of his intestines, but at least they were not ripped open like last time. Still, it would take all night for the wound to heal. It would have healed faster if he had changed into either of his other forms, but he didn't want to take the chance anyone would see. He got a fresh shirt from his storage dimension and went to bed. Sleep wasn't something he had had very much of in the last week.

Naruto had felt Sasuke leave the house an hour ago; he still hadn't come back. He wondered if he had a girlfriend or something. There was always the possibility that he had some secret Anbu duties. He went to sleep pondering the changes in his friends: Shikamaru didn't complain as much; Sakura was much more grown up; Ino, Choji, Shino, and Kiba seemed the same as ever; Tsunade was still a bossy hag; Neji seemed to smile more; Hinata was much more confident; Akamaru had gotten even bigger; and Sasuke…he seemed…almost at peace. He wondered if he had killed his brother yet. That could account for the peace. Or a girlfriend could have put that look on his face. He could be trying to repopulate his clan as Naruto was laying in bed thinking about it. He had no idea why that annoyed him so much. Maybe it was because he was jealous. Yes, that had to be it. He was jealous he would never have the chance to have a family.

Why did it sound as if he was trying too hard to convince himself of that?

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Sasuke was returning to the Uchiha mansion early the next morning to pick up Naru to take him to see the Hokage. He really wasn't looking forward to this busy-work; his time would be much better spent training. He still needed to defeat his brother. The only reason he stayed in Konoha was to honor his friend's memory. It was what Naruto would have wanted or he wouldn't have brought him back in the first place. He now wanted to live after he defeated Itachi; he blamed that on Naruto, too. He had to live for both of them and honor his memory by protecting this village, even though he didn't know what his goal would be after Itachi was gone. Even after all these years, he still couldn't forget his best friend. No one could replace Naruto. The dobe.

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"So, what sort of missions was the Hokage talking about last night? They must be something if she assigned two Anbu captains to them."

Sasuke came to a dead stop when the other man mentioned 'Anbu.' How did he know that Neji and he were a part of the Anbu, much less that they were captains? They weren't wearing their masks or their uniforms, so there shouldn't have been any clues to who they were. "How-"

Naruto interrupted him, knowing what he was going to ask. "When you have seen as much as I have, you get pretty good at reading people. The way you walk, fight, and even look at people show who and what you are. People used to killing are easy to spot, no matter what mask they wear, even when that mask is their own face, sometimes especially then." Seeing the look on Sasuke's face, Naruto laughed. "Don't worry, it isn't you; most people aren't able to tell anything but the most superficial of information from these things. I doubt that anyone else would have been able to tell except for maybe Inutaisho. He has been around a long time and learned many tricks during that time. But he also knows when to keep his mouth shut, especially when it is none of his business."

Sasuke resumed walking towards the Hokage's office, deciding to drop the subject for the time being. "The Hokage will brief you on the missions when we get to her office." They walked the rest of the way in silence, Naruto just enjoying the other's company after so long and Sasuke thinking over what Naru said.

They made it to Tsunade's office in little time. Shizune waved them in saying that Neji was already there. They went in to stand in front of the desk beside Neji and wait for instructions. Shizune came in with tea for each of them and left.

Tsunade finally looked up at them just as Naruto was starting to get impatient. He had never quite outgrown that feeling of annoyance at being ignored.

Tsunade waited until Naru had taken a sip of his tea before starting with her questions. "So, Naru, before you start on your missions, I need a little information from you. First of all, what village are you from? We would like to contact them to check on a few things."

"I prefer not to give the name of my village. I left there a long time ago and have no intention of ever making it my home again. Anything you need to know, you can ask me."

Tsunade got a hard look in her eye. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I need the name of your village. I don't want to have a spy from an enemy village running around and want to make sure you aren't one. If I have to get in touch with every village and ask about you, I will."

Naruto shrugged unimpressed. "Your inquiries will not turn up anything you couldn't find out without leaving this village. The truth serum that you had Shizune slip into my drink should tell you I'm not lying. Why don't you just ask me if I'm a threat?"

Tsunade looked stunned. How had he known about the serum? It was tasteless and odorless; virtually undetectable. She had developed it herself. It only lasted a few minutes after you got finished drinking it so it wouldn't cause any unnecessary problems. But this Naru was just sipping his tea, in no hurry, as if he didn't care that he couldn't lie.

Naruto really didn't care. The secret with things like these was to just refuse to answer any question you didn't want to answer. Give them reassurance without giving away more than you intend to. And if pressed for answers against your will…burn out the serum with demonic chakra. It was no match for that, but there was no need unless Tsunade got too pushy. As to how he had detected it in the first place, it may be tasteless and odorless to ordinary humans but he was anything but ordinary.

Tsunade got over her shock. _Who is this guy?_ "Are you a threat to this village or to anyone else?"

Naruto thought for a second. "Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm not a threat to _anyone_. If someone attacks me, I will attack back, but I don't go looking for trouble, at least not usually. I _will_ help protect this village and the people in it to the best of my ability. I _am_ a threat to anyone who seeks to harm this village or any innocent person."

Neji spoke up. "Why would you care about this village? You were not born here, nor do you have any ties to it. You obviously have some fighting experience. You also refuse to give the name of your village. Are you a missing-nin from another village?"

Naruto smiled ironically. "No, I'm not a missing-nin from another village. And I care about protecting this village because it is what I do. Let's just leave it at that. You will probably find out eventually anyway and I want to enjoy this while it lasts."

Neji was still not satisfied. "What-"

Tsunade interrupted him. "All that is important is he does not seek to harm the village. We can let him have his secrets for now. He said we would find out eventually; that is good enough for me. I understand wanting to keep your past to yourself." She paused for a moment, a dark, sad look on her face. "Now, on to my other questions." Tsunade paused again to consider how to word her next question. "Your forehead protector is unusual. I have never seen one like it. Does it represent something? Your shinobi rank perhaps?"

Naruto smiled and took another sip of his tea. "Actually, no. When I left my village, I took off mine and started traveling. After a while I noticed that people tended to look at me strangely and I was drawing more attention than I wanted to. I finally figured out that it was my lack of a forehead protector that was causing this. You don't see someone dressed as I was who isn't a shinobi. So I had this made. It has no special meaning. I just saw it somewhere and liked it." _Mmmm, ramen_.

Tsunade was frustrated. That didn't tell her anything. She would just have to be direct in dealing with him. "So what _is_ your rank?"

Naruto lifted his hand to rub the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, you see, I never actually got around to retaking the Chuunin exam before I left my village. So I guess you could say that I'm still a genin."

Tsunade's mouth dropped open and Sasuke and Neji stared at Naru incredulously. Shizune fell thru the doorway where she had been listening with the door slightly open. Tsunade snapped her mouth closed. "You left your village when you were a _genin_?!"

"Well, yeah. It wasn't that I was at genin level; I just hadn't gotten around to taking the exam again."

"Again?"

"I only took it the one time. I didn't pass."

"When did you take it?"

"I would rather not say."

"How old are you?"

"I would rather not say."

Tsunade almost smiled. This guy was good. He didn't even try to lie; he just avoided answering the questions that he thought would give them enough clues to find out his identity. "Is Naru your real name?"

Naruto thought for a moment. Well, it wasn't the name that he was born with, but it was kind of a nickname. And he had been going by it for eight years. So it was real enough. "Yes." Tsunade should really be more specific with her questioning.

_Well, that's something._ Tsunade decided that that was enough questioning about Naru's background. "Well, Sasuke and Neji already have the lists of missions I want them to complete. They are just basic, genin level missions, so they should be right up your alley. Mostly D ranked, but there are a few C ranked missions. I don't know if you can do a shadow clone jutsu, but if you can't then you can just pick a handful of missions and do them one at a time. Sasuke and Neji should be able to take care of the majority of them anyway."

"I can make shadow clones. I would also like to try to perform some odd jobs around the village or even a few missions when I am done with my friend's debt to you. I am running low on funds. I also need to do some personal tasks I have trouble finding the time for when traveling."

"I will see what I can do. You will be getting a little money from these missions anyway. We could always use more ninja. Although I will probably limit your missions to things that need to be done around the village. That means mostly lower level missions."

"That will be fine. It will give me more time to do my inventory."

Sasuke looked at him sharply. "You don't have any bags. What do you have to take inventory of?"

"I have a certain jutsu that allows me to store my things in an alternate dimension. The space is unlimited, so I tend to accumulate a lot. The only way I can keep track of them all is by keeping an inventory list. Shouldn't we begin to work on the missions? How many clones do I need to make?"

Sasuke ignored Naru's talk of storage space, wondering what the big deal was. Tsunade seemed to have spaced out again so Sasuke gathered all the lists and found the end; luckily they were numbered so he didn't have to count them. "There are 950 missions here. Together, Neji and I can make 175 clones. Why don't you take about a hundred and we'll handle the rest? When we get done with ours, we will finish yours for you. How many clones can you make? Three or four?" Since he was still a genin, Sasuke didn't expect much from him, despite having witnessed his performance with Inutaisho. But the dog was his friend, so it was easy for him to know his weak spots.

Naruto grinned, glad some things never changed. Sasuke was _still_ a pompous ass. If Naruto was his old self, he might have gotten into a fight with the other man right then. But he had learned the value in letting people underestimate him. "I can make enough."

Tsunade finally shook herself out of her stupor. "Do you know how _dangerous_ opening other dimensions is? What if you open the wrong one and unleash some monster? The risks…not even Orochimaru was crazy enough to mess with them to my knowledge."

Sasuke glanced at her. "He tried it once and almost got sucked into one before he could close it. He never tried it again. I don't see what the big deal is. All he can do is store things."

Tsunade glared at him and opened her mouth to speak.

Neji beat her to it. "But wouldn't it be extremely useful to be able to carry anything with you and have it if you needed it? Medical supplies, weapons, clothes, tents, blankets, food, etc. Being able to store it in another dimension means you don't have to be weighed down carrying it. It seems to me it would be a jutsu worth learning."

Tsunade opened her mouth again.

Naruto spoke up this time. "It is an extremely difficult jutsu to learn. You can't do it around other people because of the risk of opening up a different, possibly hostile, dimension. You have to get the exact frequency of the dimension in order to access the dimension you want. It's too dangerous and if I hadn't so young and stupid at the time, I wouldn't have learned it in the first place."

Neji smiled. Sasuke smirked. "So you admit you are stupid?"

Naruto grinned wider than before. "I was. But you know what? I was happier that way." It was true, but he wouldn't go back to that time even if he did have a choice. He was who he was now and he liked the person he had become. He didn't feel that incessant urge to prove himself anymore. Although he really missed all his friends.

_Why do they keep ignoring me? Don't they realize that it's rude to ignore their leader? Their HOKAGE! _Tsunade thought, outraged. Then she deflated and sighed. There was no point in reprimanding them. They wouldn't listen to it anyway. "Just get on with the missions. We could really use the revenue and I want these requests off my desk." Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling the beginning of a headache. She was really getting too old for this. Maybe it really _was_ time for her to choose a successor and begin their training. Then she could go back to gambling in peace without people chasing her with paperwork.

Shizune herded them out of the Hokage's office. They divided up the list and ran off in the directions they needed to go. Naruto thought it strange they didn't even bother to ask him if he could find his way around the village. He could but, as far as they knew, he hadn't seen very much of it last night. Oh well. They were probably hoping he would get lost and stay out of their way. They were both still complete bastards after all. He glanced at the list and almost laughed when he saw Tora's name_. I'm surprised that cat is still alive after all the times she's run away. _He shook his head and ran off to look in all her favorite hiding spots, splitting into about twenty clones along the way. After all, it wouldn't do to finish too much before the others. He was fast so there was no need for more than that amount of clones. He found Tora in the first place he looked: where they had found her the first time they were assigned the task. Only this time she took one look at him and jumped into his arms, purring. Naruto laughed as he noticed something he was unaware of before he left the village. "Well, I'm glad that you recognize me, Tora. You must have missed your favorite scratching post! I guess even the lack of smell can't fool you. Just don't tell anyone else." _Glad there are no hard feelings. Or is she just sucking up? _He immediately took the cat back to the fire lord's wife who exclaimed over how happy she was to have her Tora back. He moved to the next task and, before long, he was sitting in front of the Hokage's office, waiting on the other two. Unfortunately for him, it was right beside the bookstore. And sitting in the front window were a couple dozen books with his 'name' on them. And people (a.k.a. girls) were starting to notice the resemblance between the renderings in the books and him. They were advancing. (**A/N:** Ahhhhhh! Attack of the fangirls!)

*********************************break*********************************

Sasuke and Neji walked at a leisurely pace back to the Hokage's office. Neji turned to Sasuke. "So, do you think he got even one item on the list completed?"

Sasuke smirked and shook his head. "He might have gotten one or two done, but I gave him the list with finding Tora on it. There was no way that he would find her unless he knew her usual hiding places. He probably got lost."

Neji shook his head. "You knew he wouldn't be able to complete that list. He doesn't even know anything about this village. How would he even know where to go for the missions?"

"That was the point. I don't like him. He annoys me for some reason."

"It's probably because Tsunade made you baby sit him. I would have been annoyed too. Although it's probably a good thing."

"Why do you say that?"

Neji was not one to beat around the bush in fear of arousing the Uchiha temper not often seen, but legendary. "You need to stop brooding about Naruto. Maybe this idiot will take your mind off him, if only by deterring you from your routine."

Sasuke almost went into a rage and would have if his eye hadn't been caught by something simply shocking. Naru was standing in front of a bookstore. Maybe standing wasn't the right word. Some of Sasuke's fan club had attacked the man and were trying to tear his shirt off. He heard a ripping sound and saw a screaming woman run away clutching the material.

"I GOT IT! I GOT IT!" the woman ran out of sight, so intent on keeping her prize that she didn't stick around to see the result of her handy work.

Sweat gleamed on a hard, darkly tanned chest. Luckily his wound from the night before was gone or he would have had some explaining to do. As it was the whole street fell silent and stared at this perfect specimen. Even the girls who were partially responsible were now silent as they drank in the sight.

Sasuke's mouth fell open. He then felt something foreign stir in his groin area. He felt himself get harder and harder the longer he stared at Naru's chest. But he couldn't seem to pull his eyes away. His jaw clenched shut as did his fists. It was all he could do not to march up to him and…do what, he didn't know. Yank those women away from him. Or…

Sasuke finally found the strength to close his eyes. This was _not_ happening. He had never felt the slightest attraction to another person in his life. Why did it have to happen with this guy who he wasn't sure he even _liked_? He knew how sex worked. He could imagine what it would entail, the mechanics of how it would work between two men. But just imagining the two of them was almost enough to send Sasuke over the edge. All those years of sexual repression was about to make themselves known. The question was: _would he be able to control it?_

Naruto sensed Sasuke and Neji just on the outside of the crowd. His eyes met Neji's first and he silently pleaded for help. Even after all this time he still couldn't bring himself to risk hurting girls, at least when he was in his current form, or he would have shoved his way out. Neji just laughed at him. It wasn't often you saw a fully grown man looking that desperate. If it had been Sasuke he would have just thrown them off him as soon as they got too close. Hell, even he would have, just more gently than Sasuke would have. But this guy wouldn't even push his way through a crowd out of fear he would hurt one of them.

Seeing no help was going to come from Neji, Naruto moved his eyes to Sasuke. For some reason he had his eyes clinched shut and looked like he was in pain. "Hey, Sasuke you bastard! Get over here and help me!" he yelled to get his attention.

Sasuke jerked his eyes open and Naruto almost fell over in surprise. His eyes were full of fire and his face was flushed. Did he have a fever? Naruto didn't even realize he had bulldozed his way through the crowd to get to Sasuke until he was right in front of him. Naruto put his hand up to Sasuke's forehead. "Are you okay, Sasuke? You feel like you have a fever. We should get you home and in bed."

Sasuke almost leaned into Naru's hand before jerking away, cheeks darkening even more. Naru pulled his hand back, confused. "You need to rest Sasuke. It isn't healthy to walk around with a fever."

"Just leave me alone. I don't have a fever."

Neji got himself under control and gave Sasuke a knowing look before turning to Naru. "So, Naru, what are you going to do about _them_?" He said, pointing at the group of girls who were standing off to the side who suddenly developed cases of shyness now that Neji and Sasuke were around. They would never treat them the way they had Naru because they knew they wouldn't put up with it.

Naruto jerked himself around, having forgotten about the she-demons who had attacked him. He pulled Sasuke in front of him and tried to hide behind him, hard to do as he was about half a foot taller. "Sasuke, use your mysterious death-glare to scare them off. I can't take much more of their abuse!"

Sasuke turned his "death glare" on Naru, then on Neji who had started laughing again. "What the hell? You can't even take a bunch of weak girls? And you call yourself a ninja?!"

"I can't help it! They're _GIRLS_!" Naruto whined.

Sasuke sighed, feeling very put upon. He didn't want their sweaty hands all over Naru anyway. He turned back to the girls and glared menacingly. They got a really scared, slightly dreamy, adoring look on their faces before scampering away. Only Sasuke's fan-girls had completely mastered _that_ look.

Naruto left his hiding place and sighed in relief. "Thanks, Sasuke. I didn't think how I was going to get out of there without getting raped."

Neji went into a new round of laughter, clutching his stomach.

"Hn." He would have asked why they were after him but after seeing him without his shirt, he could guess. He turned to stare at Neji. He had never seen him laugh that hard before. He didn't really see what was so funny. The jackass.

Neji's laughter finally died down. "Kami, Naru, I haven't laughed that hard in I don't know how long. At the very least, you're entertaining."

Naruto pouted. "I'm _so_ glad you finds my misery amusing. You were absolutely no help. At least I know I can count on Sasuke to keep those she-demons away." Naruto ignored the fact that he was actually insulting himself in a way when he called the fan-girls demons and put his arm around Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke promptly shoved it off.

"Keep your hands to yourself." Sasuke was having trouble thinking with Naru this close.

_Guess it was too much to hope for us to become friends again this soon_. "Bastard." Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke glared at him before continuing his walk toward Tsunade's office. "Since Neji finds you so amusing, he will be finishing the missions you failed to complete while we start giving reports on the completed missions. Give him your list."

Naruto followed behind him, practically skipping. He had always loved surprising Sasuke. "No need. I finished it." He was just glad he had outgrown the need to rub things in people's faces. Well, most of the time. He wasn't so sure he could resist _all_ the time with Sasuke around.

Neji and Sasuke stared incredulously at Naru. They just hadn't expected someone as weak as him to be able to complete all those missions, even given how low ranked they were. He would have had to be really good at the Kage Bushin no Jutsu. "How…"

Naruto allowed a small smirk to escape. "I told you I could make enough. Just because I'm still a genin doesn't mean I'm weak. And I believe I told you it was a mistake to judge people solely by appearances." Naruto put his hands behind his back and began whistling on his way to Tsunade's office.

_Just how many more surprises does this guy have? _Sasuke thought.

_Just how strong is he?_ Neji wondered. _He doesn't appear to have enough chakra to make that many shadow clones. Or is he just that fast?_

Shizune waved them into Tsunade's office, secretly surprised they were done so soon but not giving anything away. There were already other people in with Tsunade giving their mission reports but Tsunade had made it clear they were to report to her a soon as they got there.

Kakashi and Gai turned when they sensed them outside the office. _He doesn't feel like much_, Kakashi thought_. But that doesn't mean anything. If he is who I think he is then hiding his true chakra level would be child's play._

Gai was nearly in tears from hearing that his beloved student had been injured. He desperately wanted to check on Lee himself to make sure that he was as uninjured as the Hokage said he was. He didn't even consciously register that he didn't recognize one of the chakra signatures before turning back to the Hokage.

Kakashi didn't let any of his shock show on his face when he saw Naru. _So, this is the legendary demon slayer._ Kakashi studied his outfit. He had to say the guy had remarkable fashion sense. That in addition to all the stories he could tell…it would almost be better than his Icha Icha books to hear all the stories Naru was sure to be able to tell about all the women after him. Kakashi had a feeling he would like him. Maybe he could get him to sign his copy of _Seven Nights with the Demon Slayer_. _Complete_ fiction, of course. Some of the things in that book didn't even seem anatomically possible. Which was one of the reasons Kakashi enjoyed it so much.

Naruto knew the look in his old sensei's eyes and as much as he was happy to see his old teacher, he rushed to hide behind Sasuke again. He wondered how Kakashi had heard of him. Maybe on a mission? It certainly couldn't have been from the books. As far as he knew, Jiraiya hadn't written any Icha Icha books about him, although he wouldn't put it past the pervert. Everyone knew Kakashi didn't read anything but perverted books so there was no way that could be where he knew about Naru from.

"So," Kakashi began.

Gai interrupted. "Hokage, may I be excused to check on Lee? I know you said he was completely healed, but I would feel better if I could see for myself."

Tsunade nodded, understanding. "Go. You've already finished your mission report anyway. Good work." Gai nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke, too worried about his former student to even say goodbye or wonder who the unfamiliar ninja was.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "I was wondering-"

Tsunade interrupted. "Oh, Kakashi! I forgot to introduce you. Naru, this is Kakashi Hatake. He is Sasuke's and Sakura's old sensei. You may be going on missions with him some time in the future. Kakashi, this is Naru. He defeated a demon that attacked the village. The demon turned out to be his friend who didn't really mean to attack us, and now they are staying to help repair the damage he caused. Naru is also trying to earn some money as he is low on funds at the moment. He will be staying in the village until the damage is repaired."

Kakashi took this all in, only slightly irritated that Tsunade had interrupted him. At least now he knew he was right. But he would have never expected a demon slayer to have a demon as a friend. Well, he had heard of stranger things. Some of those books…but now wasn't the time to get sidetracked. "Naru-sama, it is an honor to meet you. I was wondering if you would sign my book." Kakashi pulled his copy of _Seven Nights with the Demon Slayer _seemingly out of nowhere.

Naruto wondered if Kakashi had learned the void jutsu too. He had never thought about it before but Kakashi always seemed to have exactly what he needed at all times. It would make sense. Naruto sighed. _Well, the jig is up. It could have been worse. It's not like it wouldn't have gotten out anyway what with all those girls chasing me around. _Naruto stepped out from behind Sasuke and toward Kakashi."Sure." Naruto took the pen and signed the cover without looking at it until Kakashi was pulling it away from him. Naruto grabbed it back and almost had a heart attack. It had someone that looked remarkably like him tangled in not one, but _four_ beautiful women, _almost_ as beautiful as him in his Sexy Jutsu form. It was enough to make his blood boil. He felt his face flushing in both embarrassment and anger. He had never even had _sex_ much less an orgy! What _were_ these people thinking?! "What the heck is this?! I knew they had a book out because that damn woman kept on following me trying to get quotes and a couple people mentioned one, but this?! What the hell is going on?"

Kakashi looked bewildered but eyed the book in Naruto's hands worriedly. He didn't like the way he was waving it around. He waited for his moment and snatched it out of Naru's hands and clutched it to his chest, relieved it was safe. "What are you talking about? The bookstore is full of books about you. You are a living legend and everyone is fascinated by you. You _had_ to have known before today."

Naruto frowned. What was this? There were more than just one or two books about him? Sure, he thought it was a little strange that just about everywhere he went he was mobbed and everyone seemed to have heard of him, but this?! It was strange. And that book of Kakashi's! It was indecent. He didn't want anyone seeing that. "Well, I'm going to find that author and make sure he or she never writes another book like _that_ about me. I don't like the kind of message it sends. I'm not a sex fanatic and I don't want women to jump me in the streets. It's inconvenient and I want it to stop."

Kakashi's chin hit his chest. The guy honestly had no idea how famous he was. _And he's demented to not want all those beautiful women all over him. _ "You will have to visit about twenty authors then. I have the entire collection and there are more where this came from. You might as well accept it. Although I can't imagine why you wouldn't want those girls 'jumping you' as you put it. Sounds like fun to me."

Naruto stared at his former teacher incredulously. "Would you like getting scratched and kicked and getting your hair pulled, just to get a souvenir? A few minutes ago a girl outside ripped my shirt off. One time someone cut off half of one side of my hair. That isn't _fun_ no matter who you are." Naruto ran his hands through his hair, making sure that it was all still there. That experience had been the worst. Maybe it was the vanity of a kitsune, but he didn't like not having his hair, even if it did grow back in a week.

Kakashi pondered that for a moment. "I guess you're right. I had never thought of it that way." Kakashi smiled. "I knew I was going to like you. If you want, I can take you to the bookstore and you can see what has been written about you."

Naruto was about to agree when Tsunade interrupted. Naruto started; he had forgotten all about the others.

"Just _what_ are you two talking about?!" she yelled.

Kakashi looked at Tsunade in wonder, amazed she hadn't read his wonderful books. "Naru's famous. Surely you've heard of him? He's a traveling shinobi who wonders from village to village and slays demons that are causing trouble. He goes around learning new jutsu so he can be as strong as possible to protect the innocent. And girls throw themselves at him wherever he goes." Kakashi was really getting into his speech. Naruto could barely stomach it and was about to interrupt when Kakashi realized Tsunade was going to hit him over the head if he didn't stop gushing. "Well, I suppose I could let you borrow this." He pulled another book out of thin air. Luckily this one didn't have any semi-naked women on the cover. "This one covers just the facts; no fiction, at least I don't think so. I haven't really read it; I just found it outside the building coming in. I still can't believe you haven't heard of him." Kakashi seemed more offended than Naru, which didn't really say much as Naru had been happy with no one knowing who he was.

Tsunade took the book and glanced at Naru who was back to looking impassive. Could what Kakashi said be true? Was Naru really that strong? If so, he could be a real asset to the village if he stayed. But why would a demon slayer be friends with a demon? "Is all this true Naru?"

Naruto nodded, resigned. "For the most part. I can't really tell you if the book is accurate because I've never read it. But I will fix that." Naruto said determinedly.

Sasuke stood there impassively, seemingly uninterested in it all. But inside his head it was an entirely different story. He hadn't really heard of Naru before this but to learn that Kakashi was impressed by him was enough for Sasuke. It took a lot to impress his former teacher; no ordinary person could do it. Of course, it could just be his supposed prowess with women that impressed him; it was hard to tell with this pervert. Either way, it would be interesting to spar with him just to see if he was as good as Kakashi seemed to think he was. Maybe this babysitting job wouldn't be as bad as he thought. And if he got to see him without his shirt again…_Stop it!_ He yelled inside his head.

"How can a demon slayer be friends with a demon?" Neji asked, still a little weirded out that Naru was famous. Even he had heard of him; he just didn't connect him with this Naru. He would have expected someone that strong to be a lot older. And have more chakra.

Naruto shrugged. He was definitely not going to tell them he was a demon, too. "I see no reason to kill someone or something that is not evil. Just because they're demons doesn't necessarily make them bad. There are many demons that just want to be left alone, away from humans. Sometimes it is the humans who are in the wrong, humans who hunt and kill demons. And sometimes they want to seal the demons away to use their powers at a later date. But there are some demons that eat humans, some that think humans are inferior beings that need to be destroyed, and some that just enjoy killing humans. Those are the demons that I destroy. I do not like needless, mindless killing. It serves no purpose and only turns you into the very thing you hate. In Inutaisho's case, it is not in his control. He is the one demon I have met that truly enjoys humans and their company. He took me under his wing and taught me a lot that no one else would have been able to. He also gave me Tetsusaiga." Naruto patted the hilt of his sword. "He is one of my best friends."

The others were fascinated by this insight into demons. They had thought that demons were all evil and hated humans. Look at what Kyuubi had done to the village twenty-three years ago. They thought all demons were like that: causing havoc in villages and death to thousands. They hadn't realized there could possibly be some demons that were decent and possibly even good. It was mind-boggling.

Tsunade cleared her throat, forcing the ramifications of this discovery to the back of her mind to be pondered at a later time. "We can discuss this later, boys. Now, for the business at hand." She leaned back in her chair. "Did you complete your missions?"

Sasuke stepped forward to address the Hokage. "All the missions were completed. I had no trouble with my portion of them." He handed her his lists.

Kakashi backed away from the others. "I think there is a new 'Icha Icha' book calling my name. Ja!" he said, tipping an imaginary hat at them before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Neji stepped forward next. "I completed my missions also."

Naruto was still glaring at the spot that Kakashi had just disappeared from. Why did Jonin insist on disappearing like that all the time? Maybe it was some secret that you only found out after you reached that rank.

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Naru? Did you complete your assigned missions?"

Naruto glanced back up at her then took a step forward to hand her his list. "Yes."

"Did you have any trouble completing them?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, it wasn't until after I had already completed the missions that all those women attacked me. I just don't get it." He muttered, crossing his arms and went back to brooding about all the things in his life that he just didn't understand.

Tsunade sighed and glanced at the book Kakashi had left on her desk. She should probably read it so she could know what kind of ninja Naru was and what made him so special that numerous books were written about him. She remembered hearing the name vaguely but she had been so wrapped up in being Hokage and all her paperwork that she didn't pay much attention, especially not when the Sound Ninja village was still being troublesome, even without their founder and leader, Orochimaru. "You guys are dismissed. Sasuke, don't forget to keep an eye on Naru. Your team will temporarily be put under Neji's command unless something comes up while you keep watch over him. And tell Shizune that I don't want to be bothered for a while on your way out."

Sasuke and Neji bowed before disappearing in puffs of smoke. Naru let out the breath he had been holding since Kakashi's exit as he left the Hokage's office. Sure disappearing in puffs of smoke was cool, but was it really necessary? And the smell…sometimes having a superior sense of smell wasn't a good thing. Didn't they realize that that smoke was hazardous to a fox demon's health? Naru grinned. Who was he kidding? He would do it too if he could afford to. But he had learned long ago there was no point in wasting chakra just for the sake of coolness when it didn't have a training purpose. Training was planning for the future; looking cool, or whatever the point of it was, wasn't worth your life when that little bit of chakra could mean the difference between living and dying.

*********************************break*********************************

You will here more about Konoha's Sound troubles in a later chapter.

I hope that I didn't overdo it in this chapter with the whole 'Naruto is a super cool famous ninja' thing. I was debating on whether to edit this chapter further before I just gave up and decided to post it as is. Thank you to all those who reviewed!


	4. Part Four: Feelings and Acceptance

**Part Four: Feelings and Acceptance**

The next week was semi-peaceful for Naruto. The fan-girls made a few appearances but for the most part it was just missions. Tsunade kept them quite busy as she read more and more of Naru's book. It was almost as if she was testing him to see if he really was as good as the book said. Whatever the reason, Naruto was grateful. She actually gave him some upper-level quick missions. Being constantly busy kept him from doing something he was sure to regret and kept his mind off Sasuke and his other friends. Luckily he had managed to avoid Iruka so far. He wasn't entirely sure but he had an uneasy feeling that if Iruka saw him he would immediately recognize him. And Naruto didn't want to put him in a position where he had to lie to the Hokage.

Sasuke was another problem. Naruto had all these feelings for his old friend, feelings that he really didn't understand. And Sasuke was even more unapproachable, at least to him, than he had been when they first met. Naruto still blushed when he remembered what happened on the day they had been separated into teams.

Sometimes Naruto would catch Sasuke looking at him with a look in his eyes that he couldn't interpret but reminded him of the look in his eyes when he had first gotten attacked by the fan-girls. He didn't talk very much and he seemed to carry an air of sadness with him where ever he went, no matter what he was doing. From what Naruto had heard, he still hadn't managed to defeat his brother…but he seemed calmer, more willing to wait, patient even. He had truly grown up. Again, Naruto wondered about where he went every night once he thought Naru was asleep.

Sakura came around every once in a while, mostly to try and cheer Sasuke up. She was always nice to Naruto, but distant. All in all, everyone but his fan-girls was treating him like an outsider and it was bothering him. It shouldn't, but it was. He hadn't realized how much he actually was accepted…at least by his friends. He wanted to get that back but he really didn't know how. He wasn't the same person he used to be. The only thing he could do was be himself and hope that would be enough. Maybe they could be friends again and he would be able to come back and visit every once in a while.

One day, Tsunade gave them the entire day off. Sasuke wanted to go train but couldn't leave Naru alone since it was his assignment to watch him. He had changed his mind about wanting to spar with him. He could hardly stand to be in the same room with the other man without acting on his impulses; he didn't even want to think what could happen if they were that close to each other. So they just sat around the house until Naruto couldn't stand it anymore. He felt that he had shown remarkable self control in not going sooner but he didn't want the others to get too suspicious.

"I'm going to get some lunch!" He yelled, marching to the door.

Before he could reach the door, Sasuke was standing in front of it, frowning. "I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on you. If you're going anywhere, I'm going too." He smirked. "Plus, you need someone to protect you from the big, bad girls in case they decide to come back for the pants." Sasuke felt himself hardening at the thought.

Naruto decided that he was going to pout. He didn't get to do it very often anymore and now seemed to be the perfect chance to see if he could still look convincingly pitiful. He put on his sad face. "Sasssssukkkeeeee! I'm soooooo hungry. I can't stand eating any more of that stuff you dare to call food. I need something more substantial…and I've heard that you guys have a great ramen stand here."

Sasuke would be lying if he said that he was completely unfazed by the other man's pitiful expression. But it was the plea for ramen that got him to agree. It reminded him so much of a small blond boy begging him to buy him ramen every time they got done sparring together. "Okay, we'll go. But afterwards I want to get some training done so we need to go by Sakura's and get her."

Naruto's face instantly brightened. "Yay! Raaaameeeeen! Let's go!" Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand, ignoring the little shock that went up his arm, and sprinted out the door towards Ichiraku Ramen Bar.

Inutaisho was strolling down the street, ignoring for the moment the numerous admiring stares he was getting from the female half of the population, when he saw Naruto dragging a man that looked remarkably like the Sasuke Uchiha that he had met the day he had attacked the village. He couldn't help but smile at the image. He had only talked to Naruto a few times since that day but he could tell he was becoming less and less the detached hero of the nine lands and more of the boy he had heard stories about. He had known staying here for a while would do Naruto some good. He went back to walking. He had a temperamental Jonin who seemed to want nothing to do with him to charm.

As for Sasuke, try as he might to get annoyed at the large blond man for dragging him around, he couldn't. Not when he reminded him so much of his best friend. Naruto would have liked him. They were so alike in their love for ramen and even some of their mannerisms…even their names were similar. But there were plenty of differences between the two. Naru was calmer at times and didn't have the flare for drama Naruto had had. Naru didn't speak carelessly and always guarded his words in the presence of others, although he seemed more open with Sasuke. But most glaring of the differences was that Naru was alive…and Naruto was dead. Sasuke pushed the anger and sadness that always possessed him when he thought of his friend to the back of his mind. He had gotten really good at that over the years as he had had plenty of practice.

They finally managed to make it to Ichiraku's where Naruto stopped for a moment and closed his eyes to take in the delicious smells that he had missed for far too long. His mouth watered. No matter where he went, he had never found anything that could compare with the ramen served here. Maybe it was the feeling of acceptance he got whenever he had come here as a kid. The owner and his daughter were two of the too few people who had always had a kind word for him and accepted him even knowing that he had a demon inside him. He would always remember that.

Naruto let go of Sasuke's hand and slowly made his way to the stool at the counter, still with his eyes closed, letting his nose and memory lead the way. This was one of the few times where he completely abandoned his other senses and totally forgot about his surroundings, neglecting to even keep his senses open for danger. It was a good thing he was surrounded by semi-friendly shinobi in the middle of the village with an Anbu captain at his heels or who knows what could have happened.

He sat down, continuing to keep his eyes closed. Sasuke sat down next to him waiting impatiently for the other man to say something. "Are you going to fall asleep like that or are you going to order? After you dragged me all the way here you could at least hurry up and eat so I can go train."

Naruto slowly opened his eyes after one last smell. He turned to smile at Sasuke. "I wanted to savor this. I've never smelled anything in all my travels that could compare with this." He picked up the menu and pretended to study it. Everything on that menu was permanently branded in his brain from all the times he had eaten here. The only thing he had to do was decide which flavor he wanted. He looked over all the items on the menu with tears in his eyes. How was he expected to choose just one? They all were so good! He had a sudden idea. He grabbed his wallet and quickly counted his money. Okay, so he would have to stay here for a little while longer than he had planned, but in all honesty he wasn't in any hurry to leave anyway. He took a deep breath. "OLD MAN!" he yelled.

Teuchi stumbled out of the kitchen hurriedly to see who was yelling for him. For a moment he had thought Naruto had come back from the dead to haunt him into giving him ramen. This guy even looked like him. But it wasn't possible because Naruto was dead and was never coming back. _I never even got to tell him how much I enjoyed his company._ But that was all in the past now and there was nothing he could do about it. He walked over to the counter to take the newcomer's order. "Hey, Sasuke, who's your friend?" Sasuke had been one of his best customers for about two years after Naruto's death before he had gotten sick one day after eating a bowl. He had confessed that he really didn't like ramen and only came to there in order to feel close to Naruto (he only admitted this reluctantly). From that day on Teuchi always kept some fresh fruit there for Sasuke for whenever he came. He missed the little troublemaker, too.

Sasuke had a lot of respect for the old man so he answered him more politely than he would if someone else had asked. "This is Naru. I'm supposed to watch him while he's in the village. He's the guy who beat that demon that attacked."

Naruto was surprised at the many words that flowed from Sasuke's mouth. Normally he would just 'Hn' and leave Naruto to answer the question. To his knowledge, Sasuke didn't really like ramen very much so he really had no reason to come after Naruto was no longer around to drag him here. From what he had seen, Sasuke hadn't changed _that_ much.

Teuchi smiled at Naru and shook his hand. "Well, I guess I and the rest of the village owe you our lives. Anything you want is on the house."

Naruto smiled, embarrassed. "Don't be ridiculous. If you did that you would go out of business. I'm going to order a bowl of everything on the menu! You have no idea how long it's been since I've had a decent bowl of ramen. I need to make up for lost time!"He leaned forward as if whispering a secret. "Plus, I've heard this place has the best ramen in the whole world! Could I know for sure if I didn't try a little of everything?"

Teuchi laughed, flattered. "You know that's going to be a lot of money. I say we compromise: I'll give you the hero's discount!" He ignored the fact that he had no such discount or he would probably have to give one to the entire village at one point or another. There was just something about this guy that he liked. "If you're going to order everything on the menu, though, I should probably get back there in the kitchen and get cookin'. The usual, Sasuke?"

Sasuke nodded absently, wanting nothing more than to get this over with so he could start training. As long as he concentrated on fighting, he should be able to ignore the feelings he experienced around Naru.

Naruto turned to Sasuke when Teuchi went back to the kitchen rubbing his hands together in anticipation of the challenge of making everything on the menu in so short a time. "You actually eat here Sasuke? You don't seem the type to like ramen. You seem more the sushi type to me."

Sasuke shot him a look of annoyance. "Not that it's any of your business but as a matter of fact, I don't really care for ramen. Teuchi keeps some fresh fruit here for me when I come by."

Naruto decided to leave it at that. Sasuke seemed to be getting depressed for some reason. "I don't see how anyone can not like ramen. It's the best food in the world!" Naruto pumped his hand in the air, looking ridiculously like Lee and Gai, drawing stares from the people going up and down the street.

Sasuke glared at the idiot in front of him. "Put your hand down, baka. You look ridiculous."

Naruto put his fist down and turned to glare at Sasuke. "Don't call me a baka, bastard!"

Sasuke stood up, standing chest-to-chest with Naruto. "Don't act like one and I won't have to call you one."

"Bastard!"

"Baka!"

"Bastard!"

Sasuke suddenly noticed just how close their faces were to each other and how harsh their breathing was. He immediately began to feel more warm and not from anger. He pushed Naru away from him. "Oh, this is so stupid! Stop acting so childish."

"You started it! You shouldn't have called me a baka!"

Sasuke opened his mouth to retort but was pushed out of the way when Naruto saw ten bowls of ramen were waiting for him.

Teuchi sat the bowls down on the counter. "This is the first batch. I'll have some more ready in about five min-…utes." Teuchi watched in amazement. Naruto reached for his chopsticks with reverence and slowly brought the first bite of ramen to his lips, barely exposed by a little slit in his mask for just this purpose. He slowly chewed with a look of complete ecstasy on what little they could see of his face. He then opened his eyes and reached for another bite. Teuchi blinked and all ten bowls were empty with Naruto sitting back licking his fingers. Teuchi could only think of one thing to say. "Wow." He suddenly jerked himself out of his stupor and ran back into the kitchen, eager to see him do that again.

Naruto did the same thing with all the other bowls of ramen that Teuchi brought. When he had finished the last bowl, he sat back in his chair with his hands on his stomach, content. "I think that I'm actually full." He said in amazement.

The crowd that had gathered cheered. Naruto started and looked around having not noticed what a crowd his ramen eating spree had drawn. Immediately his face turned a bright red, looking for all the world like he had a third degree sunburn, quite a feat considering how tan he was.

He threw some money on the counter, adjusted his mask so it wouldn't come open when he talked, grabbed Sasuke's hand, who was looking at Naruto like he was from another planet, and, almost as quickly as he had eaten the ramen, high-tailed it out of there. Before Sasuke knew what had happened they were in front of Sakura's house on the other side of the village and knocking on her door.

Sakura cautiously opened the door as if expecting them to attack her. When she saw it was them, she threw open the door and jerked both of them inside. She then slammed the door shut and threw on three separate locks in quick succession and finished with a huge board to complete the barricade. She leaned against the door with a sigh and then glared at them. "What do _you_ want? Can't you see that I'm trying to hide from a certain man/boy/idiot who _refuses_ to accept the fact that I wouldn't be caught _dead_ in one of those green monstrosities he finds _so_ fashionable? Well, how could you know what it's like? He isn't trying to drag _you_ to the store and force _you_ to try one on. Can you imagine? He actually thinks _I_ will go quietly! He's obviously forgotten _just_ how badly I beat him up last time he got it in his head to try and get me to do something _stupid_ and wouldn't take no for an answer. Well, I'll just have to show him _again_ then!" She had been cracking her knuckles all through her speech but now she punched a hole through the wall. Sakura, now the picture of serenity, took her hand from the hole, absently shaking the sheetrock off, to examine the wall critically. "I'll have to get that fixed later." She turned back to face them, considerably calmer. "Now, what did you want? Would you like some tea? Or I could fix you guys some lunch; I doubt that Sasuke has anything edible in his house." She looked at them expectantly.

If it hadn't been for his mask, Naruto's mouth would probably be full of flies. He had forgotten just how quickly Sakura's moods could change. And what was so bad about the green unitards? He remembered his first one fondly. Too bad Jiraiya refused to allow him to wear it. He shook his head to clear it. "Thanks, Sakura-chan, but we just ate. We just wanted to see if you wanted to go train with us."

Sakura nodded enthusiastically. "That's great! This gives me an excuse not to go with Lee without hurting his feelings…or his head," she muttered darkly. She brightened. "Let's go!" She grabbed her keys and then both their hands to pull them out the door.

Unfortunately Lee was outside with Ino, who wasn't going to miss seeing her best friend either a) completely humiliate herself by doing what Lee wanted, or b) beat Lee to a bloody pulp; either was fine with her and would sure to be entertaining.

Lee immediately ran up to Sakura with hearts in his eyes. "My love, were you so eager to go shopping with me that you could not bear to wait for me to come to you? I doubt I can make you look any more splendid than you already do but I cannot help but look forward to seeing us in matching outfits for others to look at and admire. We shall be the talk of the village!"

Naruto giggled softly, eyeing Sakura's huge breasts. "_They_ certainly would be the talk of the village." Luckily none of them got what he was referring to.

His words drew Ino's eyes to the tall blond behind Sakura in the doorway. She immediately blushed. He was even more handsome than she remembered! And it was all over the village about just who he was, so she knew she was right about his resemblance to the famed hero. And now she didn't have to worry about her future husband being weak. He was strong enough to defeat demons and knew more jutsu than Kakashi! She stared off into space, thinking about how cute their blond children would be when they got married, not even noticing the drool rolling down her chin.

Sakura was just telling Lee about her unfortunate plans with Naru and Sasuke that she had completely forgotten about, when she noticed the look on Ino's face. She cut off in the middle of the explanation and went forward to wave a hand in front of her best friend's face. It didn't faze her. Sakura sighed. She had thought Ino had gotten over her Sasuke fixation, but evidently she had been mistaken. She turned around to see what had caused this sudden renewal of interest. Okay, she could see why Ino could be driven into a relapse. She hadn't noticed it at first but Sasuke's eyes seemed to have developed a certain spark that had been missing from them for a long time. She had no idea what had put it there but she was happy for her friend and didn't want Ino to spoil it by reopening her campaign for Sasuke's heart. She pulled her friend off to the side and snapped her out of her daze. "Wipe the drool off, Ino-pig. I thought you got over your crush on Sasuke a long time ago. What's with this sudden relapse?"

Ino sighed at being interrupted from her Naru-induced trance before turning to look at Sakura, confused. "What about Sasuke?" she looked back at the door where Naru was standing, staring at them, and for the first time noticed Sasuke standing beside him looking bored, as usual. She glanced back at Naru, sighed longingly, and then turned back to Sakura with disappointment. "I didn't even notice that Sasuke was there. It's Naru who is going to be the future father of my babies." She said dreamily.

Sakura rolled her eyes. She should have expected this. If her affections weren't…otherwise engaged, she would probably have been after him too. And why not? The rest of the village girls seemed to be. She gave a sigh and walked back to the boys. She had to remember to warn Naru about Ino. She really didn't know the masked man very well, but she was confident that he didn't deserve to have Ino stalking him. "So, as I was just saying, Naru, Sasuke, and I are going to go train for a while so I can't go shopping with you."

That knocked Ino out of her stupor. She rushed over to stand beside Naru, latching onto his arm possessively. "I need to train too! I haven't had much time lately with all the missions I've been getting. I would just love to be your sparring partner, Naru-kun. I can call you Naru-kun, can't I?"

Naruto laughed nervously, scratching his head. What had gotten into her? "Sure, but I was actually looking forward to kicking Sasuke's ass. But Sakura doesn't have a partner. Why don't you team up with her?"

Ino frowned, disappointed. "I guess that would be okay." At least she would get to spend _some_ time with him.

Lee was very disappointed. It seemed he would not be getting to spend any time with his beloved today. "I really wanted to spend the day with you. But I guess it cannot be helped if you have other plans. I will have to see if Gai-sensei wants to run five hundred laps around the village with me." He turned around, tears in his eyes and chin to chest. All in all, the very picture of dejection.

Sakura sighed, feeling guilty. "I _guess_ I can let you take me to dinner tonight to make up for it. But you should know that, under no circumstances, will I _ever_ wear one of those _things_."

Lee immediately brightened and leapt at Sakura to give her a big hug. "Thanks Sakura! I shall go prepare for this evening!" He then skipped happily down the street towards his house, once again confident that all was right with the world, or at least _his_ world.

Sakura shook her head at his retreating figure. "I have no idea what I'm going to do with him." She turned back to her friends and Naru. "Let's go!" They left, Sakura leading the way.

Naruto followed her, wondering what it would be like to spar with Sasuke again. He was bound to have improved since they last fought; after all, he was an Anbu captain now. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

Sasuke, meanwhile, was slightly nervous. He had no idea how he was going to stand it if he got too close to Naru. The only thing for him to do was to make sure that Naru never got close enough to feel what he did to him. He still didn't know what to make of the other man. He seemed to be a mass of contradictions. He was a living legend, but he certainly didn't act like it, nor did he seem to have enough chakra for it to be so. And he refused to believe he could somehow hide his chakra from both his Sharingan and Neji's Byakuya. He couldn't help but look forward to sparing with Naru a little though. He would finally get to see what he was made of.

Ino brought up the end of the group, every so often bumping into people because she was too busy watching her blond, supposedly future husband to watch where she was going. Her thoughts were filled with all their future dates leading up to their wedding day. She would of course look beautiful and be the envy of all the other women there. She was so wrapped up in her fantasy that she didn't even realize they had reached the training ground until she ran into Sakura's back.

Naruto stopped when Sakura did and looked around. This place sure brought back memories. This was the field where they officially became Team 7 and genin. It was where he and Sasuke had sparred so often. It was also the spot where he had lost almost all of said sparring matches. At least this time would be different. He was no longer the same dobe anymore, at least when it came to fighting and the ninja arts. He didn't think it would be fair to use all his abilities on Sasuke or the fight would be over way too soon, so he decided to use his chakra only for defense and only when absolutely necessary. No special jutsu. He wouldn't use his demon senses at all.

Ino and Sakura got into their battle stances. Naruto and Sasuke moved off a little farther into the field and squared off too.

Naruto waited for Sasuke to make the first move. He didn't have to wait long. The other ninja immediately raced forward and threw a punch at him. Naruto easily caught it and blocked a kick aimed at his stomach. Sasuke leapt away and performed the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Immediately about twenty newly formed Sasukes leapt at Naruto. Naruto couldn't help the expression of delight that crossed his face, apparent even through his mask. He knew Sasuke wouldn't disappoint him! He would finally get a decent workout. He used his speed to dodge all of their kicks and punches, but didn't go on the offensive. He just kept up the pace and tried to find the real Sasuke. It didn't take him long, but to another ninja it would have been almost impossible. They all had similar amounts of chakra placed in them and the real Sasuke was only slightly different. He heard a crash to his left and turned his attention to the other fight, still managing to keep up his defense while observing Sakura and Ino. They had both improved dramatically. The crash that he had heard was Sakura's punch landing on a tree, snapping the trunk like a twig. Ino had managed to dodge the punch and threw several kunai at Sakura. They hit her and there was a pop and when the smoke cleared the kunai were buried in a piece of wood and Sakura came up behind Ino and kicked her feet out from under her.

All of the sudden, Naruto's attention was brought back to his fight when the real Sasuke somehow managed to clip his cheek. Sasuke glared at him and, with a pop, all his clones disappeared. "You are fighting _me_, so keep your attention on _me_ and cease ogling the girls!"

Naruto glared back, his hand on his faintly stinging cheek. "I'm _not_ ogling the girls! All I was doing was watching them fight since you _obviously_ are too inept to give me much of a challenge. So get your mind out of the gutter and fight!"

Sasuke went into a rage. How dare this guy insult him like that! He was the best ninja in Konahagature! His Sharingan activated seemingly of its own accord and he leapt at his house guest.

Naruto resisted the urge to grin. This sure brought back memories! Except it was usually Sasuke giving the insults and Naruto flying into a rage. Naruto decided he liked this reversal of roles _much_ better.

He probably should have been paying more attention to his surroundings. Maybe then he would have seen the kunai flying at Sasuke long enough beforehand to do more than just jump in front of them. But that was all he had time to do. When he saw the familiar flashes of black flying through the air, he didn't think, he just reacted. He leapt forward and pushed Sasuke to the ground, covering him with his body before Sasuke could even register that he had moved. Sasuke got the breath knocked out of him but was otherwise okay. Then he realized what had happened, or what he thought had happened. The other man had been toying with him! He could have ended their fight at any time with his speed alone but all he had done was dodge Sasuke's attacks. But then his indignation slowly faded away when he became aware of the fact that every inch of his body was covered by the object of his dreams from the past week. He felt himself growing harder with each second that the blond man stayed on top of him. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! He did the only thing that an Uchiha who was faced with the possibility of embarrassment could do: he threw off the other man before he could notice what he was doing to him. Only when he heard a soft, pain-filled groan did he realize that Naru had somehow gotten hurt. But he must have been mistaken because a supposedly wounded man couldn't disappear as fast as Naru did before the groan was even finished.

Sakura and Ino ran over to Sasuke to make sure he was all right. Sakura immediately checked him over with her chakra before giving him a tight hug with tears in her eyes. She thanked Kami that he was alright. She didn't think she could bear to lose another friend. "I'm so _glad_ that you're okay."

Sasuke was confused. Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye and turned to look. About ten kunai littered the ground. How had they gotten there? He turned back to Sakura and shrugged out of her embrace. "Why wouldn't I be okay? And where did that idiot run off to? We haven't finished our fight. And what are all those kunai doing on the ground?"

Sakura and Ino glanced at each other. Sakura finally answered. "You were attacked, Sasuke. Naru pushed you out of the way before any of those kunai could touch you." Sakura frowned. "But I don't know why you didn't notice them in the first place. For that matter, why didn't _I_ notice them? And I could have sworn that they landed in Naru's back but there isn't a speck of blood on those."

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and looked over the knives, seeing traces of the dissipating chakra that had been used on them. It was a complicated genjutsu, masking all signs of the kunai's passage through the air and towards their target. He explained all this to the two girls and deactivated his Sharingan just as Naru came back looking extremely annoyed. Sasuke glared at him, not used to having someone saving his life and not sure how to act. Especially given his thoughts just after Naru tackled him. "Where have you been?"

Naruto glared back at him. "I went to see if I could find who threw those kunai. Where did you think I was going? Too bad they got away." _And too bad their scent disappeared so suddenly before I had a chance to tag them. They must have teleported._ He calmed and checked Sasuke over with his eyes and chakra, making sure he was uninjured. "How are you doing? Are you injured?" he asked softly, despite the fact that he couldn't find anything wrong with him with his chakra. He needed to hear the words from Sasuke that he was alright.

Sasuke, meanwhile, was mesmerized by the look in the other man's eyes. They were soft and seemed to be conveying an emotion that Sasuke had rarely seen before. It touched something inside him and he felt compelled to respond in kind but had no idea how to. He didn't know what was happening to him. For the first time in his life, he wanted to take someone in his arms and assure them that he was fine. He didn't know what to say so he decided to let Sakura answer for him.

Sakura started to assure him that Sasuke was alright but Naruto stopped her, seeing that Sasuke wasn't going to answer him and being unable to break eye contact with him.

Sakura and Ino were watching the byplay between the two with mute fascination. Sakura wanted to thank the tall blond for rescuing her friend but didn't want to interrupt the moment between the two. Could this mean what she thought it meant? If so, she was glad. The guy already had her acceptance and gratitude for saving Sasuke at the risk of his own life. She frowned again. She could have sworn those kunai had hit him.

Ino was rapidly starting to lose hope that her happy future with Naru would be happening. She reluctantly said goodbye to her cute blond children. It was a good thing she thought that Naru and Sasuke were so cute together or she would have been completely crushed. At least this was an ego booster. Both men who had seemed to have no interest in her that she went after also seemed to be gay, so it wasn't anything to do with her. She would just have to make sure she chose a straight guy next time. She turned to Sakura and whispered, "Do you think that we should leave them alone? It was probably just some kids practicing out here and ran away after seeing what happened. They were probably afraid of getting in trouble."

Sakura nodded even though she doubted that was the case, not that she thought Ino believed it either. She would just talk with Sasuke about it later. After all, he was perfectly capable of taking care if himself so she didn't need to worry over him like a mother hen. They quietly left the training area, leaving the two men alone.

Sasuke broke eye contact first. "So, why did you save me? You can't say that I'm actually your friend. More like prison guard." _Not that I wouldn't like ot be more than that. _Sasuke shoved that thought out of his head the second he thought it, though he absolutely refused to dwell on why it disturbed him so.

Naruto continued to gaze at Sasuke quietly. _You're my best friend, even if I have been away for eight years._ But he didn't say that aloud. "I still consider you my friend. But, hey, I'm a protector by nature. Saving people is what I do." He paused. "Do you have any idea who could have thrown those kunai?"

Sasuke shook his head. He had many enemies but most of them wanted to beat him outright, not by throwing kunai at his back. Sasuke got up and brushed himself off, still refusing to look at Naru. "I guess we should go report this to the Hokage."

Naruto nodded, lost in thought. They started walking back towards the village. Who would want Sasuke dead? All the women loved him and the men…Well, most of them didn't love him but none of them wanted him dead enough to pull something like _this_. Itachi came to mind but he expected Sasuke to come looking for him, not the other way around. No one person really stood out.

They went into the building and were waved into the Hokage's office. Tsunade was sitting at her desk, sleeping. Her face was flat on the desk, drooling all over the mission reports she was using as a pillow. She seemed to have fallen asleep signing papers because her pen was still in her hand and there was a big splotch of ink where the point was poised. Shizune took all this in at a glance, including the sake bottle tucked underneath the desk, and, rolling her eyes, walked over to stand beside the Hokage and leaned over to yell in her ear. "TSUNADE-SAMA!!!" Tsunade jerked her head up and looked around wildly. Shizune continued, "You have guests." Then she walked out of the room to get back to work.

Tsunade rubbed her eyes and scowled at the spot where the ink had leaked through the paper and stained her desk. There were numerous similar staines all around this new stain, indicating that this had happened before. She finally gave them her full attention. "Well, what do you want?"

They ignored her rude tone. Evidently Tsunade wasn't in the best of moods when she first woke up, or at any other time for that matter. They told her what had transpired in the training field. Tsunade was just as puzzled as they were and was more than slightly alarmed that one of her most powerful, if not _the_ most powerful, Jonin couldn't sense the kunai so intent on being buried in his back. Only an extremely powerful ninja would be able to accomplish that. She warned Sasuke to be on his guard. "Unfortunately there isn't anything we can do until he or she makes another move. Sasuke, wait outside while I speak with Naru for a moment." Sasuke left and Tsunade turned back to Naruto. "Listen, I know you think that I don't trust you, but that's really not the case. Right now you're the only person I can trust to watch out for Sasuke, even though he will protest til the end of time if he knows that's what you're doing. So I'm going to let him continue to guard you when I actually want you to be protecting him. Think of it as an undercover mission. It's the only way to make sure he keeps you around where you can keep an eye on him. I have it on good authority that he goes out almost every night since you started staying with him. I'm sure you're aware that he put a jutsu around the Uchiha grounds that would alert him if you left?" Naruto nodded. "Well, I don't want him to leave anymore. If he tries to leave, either follow him or stop him. You can disturb the jutsu if all else fails." Tsunade instructed. "I don't think what he's doing is all that healthy anyways," she muttered under her breath before continuing. "If the guy who did this tries anything again, try to avoid killing him so I can question him." She dismissed him only to gasp as she saw his back. "What the _hell_ happened to your shirt!"

Naruto glanced back at her, slightly surprised that he had been so careless as to forget he had taken all those kunai in the back. And after he had gone to so much trouble making the others think he hadn't been hit. This thing with Sasuke must have him more worried than he realized. He thought fast. "I just didn't want anyone to worry. I healed them with some medical jutsu I learned in my travels. When you fight the beings that I do, you need to be healed more often than normal people so it just made sense to learn those type of jutsu as well. I didn't have time to block the kunai; I only just had time to shove Sasuke out of the way. I forgot about the rips in my shirt." He reached into his void and grabbed another one to put on. "I'm just glad that you saw it before someone else. I don't fancy having to explain this to Sasuke if he should see it. It's not like me to be so careless."

Tsuande stared at him, not having encountered anyone like him for a long time. "But you could have died, should have died, with that many wounds in your back! Why would you risk your life for someone that you barely even know?"

He gave her the same answer that he had given Sasuke. "It's what I do. And I wasn't really risking my life. I knew I could heal myself before I lost too much blood as long as they didn't follow up with another attack and by then the others would have been ready. Besides, Sasuke's my host. If he died who would I stay with?"

Tsuande smiled, respect shining in her eyes. "I'm sure there are at least a hundred girls out there in the village who would _love_ to give you an answer to your question. But Sasuke isn't dead and will probably stay that way if you continue to watch him. Try to keep him busy. It will keep him from suspecting anything and might tire him out too much to leave at night without you." Naru left her office.

Tsunade sat back in her chair, thinking. There was something about that boy…

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Hey guys!

Thank you to all who reviewed. And keep in mind that I _will_ finish this fic. If I don't update for a couple of months, know that I'm probably just really busy and I will post something if I ever decide to discontinue this fic (I really don't see this happening though as I have a plan for how this story will go and I have plans for a sequel). Actually there will have to be a sequel given how this story will end. I just hope that you all will stick with this story long enough to read the sequel.

BYE!!!


	5. Part Five: Battles and Revelations

Part Five: Battles and Revelations

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Okay, first a review response: tell-me-more—You were wondering who Inutaisho was, right? He is Inuyasha's and Sesshomaru's father on _Inuyasha_. They never really say his name but most people call him that (kind of like people used to do to the Fourth Hokage before we knew his name). So don't feel bad about not knowing who he is. I think that the name means 'Great Dog General' or 'Great Dog Lord' or something like that. Kinda like Sesshomaru is a tai-youkai. I really don't know for sure. You also asked about Naruto's whisker marks. I'm going to say that joining with Kyuubi made them disappear, along with the seal.

About the mask/eating thing: A couple of you reviewed with questions about how he could eat with the mask covering his face. I meant to answer this question in the chapter after the one with him eating at the ramen stand, but I forgot. Well, this is going to be my official answer. I'm going to say that there is a hole in the mask that he opens when he eats. I'll probably go back and fix it if I ever get around to editing this story. I would like to tell everyone that I had this explanation in mind when I was writing that scene, but I have to admit that I am hopelessly absentminded and I just completely forgot about the mask. **(I think I fixed this.)**

Now, on with the story!

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Part Five: Battles and Revelations

Naruto lay on his bed that night, thinking. He hadn't agreed with Tsunade's plan to keep Sasuke in the mansion. He told Sasuke that he didn't want him leaving the house at night anymore because of the incident in the training field. Sasuke, of course, had argued that he could take care of himself. Naruto said that he obviously couldn't because he certainly hadn't earlier. Sasuke knew that he was good and had confidence in his abilities. However, someone had gotten awfully close to killing him earlier and he didn't like having that fact rubbed in his face. They fought and Naruto made sure that Sasuke was too exhausted to move, much less leave the house that night. Of course, Naruto had a backup plan for the rest of the time too. He told Sasuke that if he tried to leave the house without him, then he would follow him wherever he went. That had shut Sasuke up. Obviously he didn't want him to know where he went. And that was what Naruto was currently thinking about. Where _did_ Sasuke go when he left the mansion at night? Since Tsunade didn't seem too happy with whatever he was doing when he left, Naruto could only conclude that it didn't have to do with any Anbu secret duties. And he didn't see Tsunade getting too worked up over the bastard's love life. So what could it be? What had Tsunade said? _"I don't think what he's doing is all that healthy anyways."_ What did she mean 'healthy'? Could he be going out and getting drunk every night? But then wouldn't he have hangovers? Sure, no one would ever make the mistake of calling Sasuke a morning person, but he didn't seem to be suffering from any headaches from Hell either. And he didn't think that Sasuke was the type to go for whores. So the question remained…Where did he go?

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Naruto got up early the next morning and went down to the kitchen to have some cereal. He estimated he had about an hour before Sasuke got up. Naruto shook his head. Sasuke usually did get up early, but not any earlier than he had to. And it was wise not to talk to him for a couple hours until he completely woke up, even if he didn't act all that different from usual, you could practically feel the menace rolling off of him and you could only hope he ignored you if you were stupid enough to actually ask him a question.

Just as he finished his cereal, he heard a knock at the door. He opened it and saw Kakashi standing there. "Hello again, Kakashi. Would you like to come in?" he said, stepping to the side to give the Jonin room to pass.

Kakashi sauntered into the kitchen and leaned against the counter, whipping out a book. Thankfully, he had decided to go back to his Icha Icha books while around Naru, considering his reaction to the other one. "The Hokage would like to see you. We are to go to Hokage Tower and report. I believe she has a mission for us."

Naruto frowned. "But I thought that I wasn't allowed to leave Sasuke?"

Kakashi glanced up from his book. "There will be other Jonin watching the house until he wakes up, just in case. Then the Hokage has a mission for him and Neji. She feels that he will be safe with him. Plus, I trained Sasuke so I know he can take care of himself, now that he knows to be on his guard. I told Tsunade-sama this and she agreed, though she still wants you to continue to stay with Sasuke here. You will be given separate missions occasionally but not any extended ones." He snapped his book closed and made his way to the door. "We should get going."

Naruto looked at his ex-sensei in surprise. Had Kakashi really changed so much? "_You_ are actually worried about getting somewhere _on time_?!" he exclaimed before he could stop himself as they started in the opposite direction of Hokage Tower.

Luckily Kakashi thought nothing of it. He scratched the top of his head sheepishly. "Actually, I was hoping we could talk about all your adventures. I was wondering if anything that I read was the truth?"

Naruto scowled as they jumped over rooftops. "If you're referring to the stuff about the women, then no. I have no interest in women _in that way_ any longer."

"So you're gay then?"

Naruto almost fell off the roof. He glared at Kakashi. "I have no interest in _men_ in that way either. I don't have time for relationships."

Kakashi nodded, pretending to believe him for now. For some reason, even though he now knew that most of the stuff in his books were false, he still found this guy really interesting. He had heard him compared to 'the Great Copy-nin Kakashi' many times in the past, which was one of the things that had gotten him interested in the books in the first place, since he had never really read anything other than the Icha Icha books. But now he found himself wanting to get to know the actual person, not the legend. And he also wanted to know why he seemed so damned familiar.

Suddenly, Naruto stopped. Kakashi was so deep in thought that he almost bumped into him. He stepped back, chagrined to have been caught being so inattentive to his surroundings. "Why did you stop?"

Naruto walked over to a tree to sit down against it. "Isn't this where you wanted to go?" he said, gesturing to the black memorial stone. He knew this was where Kakashi used to spend the time when he was supposed to be meeting his team or at a meeting. As he lay back against the tree, he closed his eyes and decided to do a little light meditation in order to give his old sensei some semblance of privacy. He also didn't want to see the new names that were bound to be there given the time he had been gone and the continued war with Sound.

Kakashi was surprised. He hadn't even realized he had been headed in this direction. He guessed his feet were so used to coming here that they just automatically carried him here without him even realizing it. He walked up to the stone and bowed his head. _Obito, Minoto-sensei, Sandaime…Naruto. I wish you were all still here. I'm sorry I failed to protect you…Especially you, Naruto. I failed in my duty, as both your teacher and as your friend, to see how much you were hurting, how close you were to losing hope. I never put all that much effort into being your teacher and I now know just how much of a mistake that was. I'm glad we, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Iruka, and I, were able to _persuade _the Council to allow your name to be on this stone to honor you. At least I was able to do that much for you. Even though you were leaving us, you still died in battle and it was because of the damage you were able to do to the demon that we were able to defeat him. And for that you deserve to be honored. Not to mention all the other times you saved the village, even if no one ever thanked you properly any of those times. You were hated, beaten, yelled at, and shunned all your life and still you found the courage to smile and make the most of each and every day, protecting with all your might the very ones who caused you so much pain. You will never know how much I admire you for that. Or how much I regret not telling you so while I still had the chance._

Kakashi raised his head. "Let's go," he said quietly, and they resumed their journey to Hokage Tower.

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The Leader of the Akatsuki regarded his minions with interest, wondering how they would take this newest assignment. It would be interesting to see if any of them survived and what kind of damage they could do. It was really quite funny. None of them realized just what the real purpose behind this organization was. They were going to give their lives without ever knowing the real reason why. _How amusing._

And if any of them were unfortunate enough to survive…he would just have to kill them himself.

The Leader cleared his throat to get all the members' attention, eager to see their reaction when he told them just what he wanted them to do. "I have a mission that requires all of your participation, except for Itachi as he is on a mission of his own at the moment. Konoha has been a thorn in our side for too long. The current Hokage keeps sending people to gather information on us and Konoha nins have foiled too many of our plans, especially when the Kyuubi holder was alive. It is their fault that we were not able to harness the most powerful of the tailed beasts. Now that we are almost ready to proceed to an advanced stage of our plan, we don't need them interfering. Although it could prove costly to us, we need to…eliminate them." He paused to let this sink in, ignoring the murmurs. "Every man, woman, and child, no one is to be spared whether they be shinobi or civilian. We don't need some crazy annoyance trying to get revenge at some later date. The only one you are to try to refrain from killing is Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke. I don't like it but Itachi wants to torture the brat a little more before killing him too. This isn't to say that you should avoid engaging him in battle; just don't kill him." He paused again, considering something that had just occurred to him. Then he decided it wasn't worth it. It wasn't as if they would actually succeed in this mission anyway. But maybe he could kill two birds with one stone. "As an added precaution, I shall send the Neko if it looks as if you are having trouble. I doubt you will as Konoha has had a shortage of shinobi and will have a number of them on missions at the time of the attack. I want you to infiltrate the Hokage's office and get a list of all ninja on missions. Then I want you to hunt them down and kill them. As I said before, I don't want any loose ends. You are dismissed. Make sure you are ready in a week's time for the attack."

The members left, reassured by the Leader's confidence and his pledge to send the Neko if they got into trouble. There was no way they could lose with the demon on their side. Tobi was the last to leave, looking confused and slightly alarmed.

The Leader chuckled evilly once they had all left the chamber. Of course he would send the demon…once they were all dead. Then the Neko would be let loose to destroy Konoha, or at least greatly cripple it, getting rid of a major obstacle in his quest. Only he could control the demons, only he was their master. And he had plans for them all…they just didn't include world domination as the other Akatsuki thought. Unless by domination you meant complete and utter destruction.

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Tsunade was ready to leave. After this meeting she planned on getting rip-roaring drunk, just like she did after all the other Council meetings. She just couldn't stand these old assholes. They were the very reason that she never wanted to get old and had spent a great deal of time and chakra finding a way to avoid facing the fact that they weren't all that much older than she was. But lately she had been feeling her age. She just didn't have the patience or passion for the work anymore. Oh, she would continue being Hokage until she found someone who she approved of for the job, someone who would love this village just as much as she did, but she was tired. Her entire family was dead and the only person she had that really gave a damn about her for some reason other than the fact that she was the Hokage was Shizune, and maybe Sakura, too, but she thought that was more because she had taught her so much. She would gladly work in the hospital to help the next Hokage if he or she desired it, but she really didn't want to stay in Konoha; it held far too many memories and not enough living attachments to bind her to it. Sure she cared about everyone in the village, but as the Hokage. The only person other than Shizune that actually knew her was Jiraiya, and he wasn't even there most of the time. He was either off doing his 'research' or trying to find some word of the Akatsuki's plans and whereabouts, as the Council had vehemently protested spending Konoha resources in order to defeat an organization that, as they saw it, now had nothing to do with them as the Kyuubi was dead. The Clan Council saw things differently, but calmed when they heard Jiraiya would be looking into the matter on his own time. The Council had protested this too, but they couldn't tell Jiraiya what to do so they just gave up. They couldn't see that what the Akatsuki were doing would greatly affect their future if they were just left alone. They were stupid, only seeing what was right in front of them, fearing things and people who were not the real threat. Like Naruto.

Tsunade felt her heart clinch at the thought of him. He was like a brother and grandson, all rolled up into one. Sometimes he would be so immature that you would wonder how he got to be a shinobi in the first place, and then he would turn around and say or do something that you would never expect to come from a genin. He loved this village more than anyone…and he had been the one most hurt by it. Despite the fact that most of the village despised him, he still wanted to protect the village and would have given his life in a heartbeat. They wouldn't have even had to ask. This was one of the reasons she was having such a hard time deciding on the next Hokage. And the Council had come up with a LOT of candidates…Kakashi, Asuma, Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru, and even (in desperation) Sakura, to name a few. But none would do in Tsunade's mind, not that any of them would accept as they knew they were not cut out for the job. Being Hokage was about more than simply being strong and being willing to give your life for the village…you had to completely give yourself over to it, love it with all your heart and soul. You had to want it, with all that you had…which was just one of the reasons Tsunade felt she wasn't meant to be Hokage forever. She had never wanted the position, had even fought against accepting it. She did it only because of one boy…who had reminded her of just what being the Hokage meant. But now he was gone and she could feel herself forgetting more and more with each of these _stupid_ meetings. She had only meant to be Hokage long enough for Naruto to grow up enough to take over; she hadn't meant to be Hokage this long. She didn't know how much longer she could last-

"Hokage-_sama,_ are you listening?" Utatane Koharu, one of the most respected elders of the Council, asked disapprovingly.

Tsunade almost growled at her, but stopped herself. There was something about this woman…she reminded her of a hateful, ugly, sadistic, mean old grandmother that you hated but were too terrified of to disobey. Not that Tsunade didn't think that she could beat her in a fight, though the old bat could probably give her a run for her money; she just gave off that kind of aura. She forced a polite smile on her face. "I'm sorry, Utatane-san, I'm afraid I let my mind wander to all that paperwork I have to finish after this meeting."

Koharu humphed, but let the matter drop. "We were just asking you what you know about the two ninja you seemed to acquire after the attack. They are both causing quite the stir in the village."

Apparently they were more out of touch than she had thought if no one had told them about Inutaisho being a demon. She was puzzled though. She had thought they had spies everywhere that kept them abreast of all the important stuff. Or were they just testing her to see if she would tell them the truth? She would have to feel them out first before deciding whether or not to tell them about Inutaisho. "Naru, one of the two, is the one who defeated the demon that attacked. He offered to stay and help out, as he needed to replenish his funds before going on his way. Since he saved us from the demon and we need all the ninja we can get, I thought it would be a win-win situation."

Danzo, another Council member who she couldn't stand and didn't trust, leaned forward and condescendingly said, "Did you ever stop and think that this could just be a setup to get you to let him stay in the village? He could be a spy from another village."

Tsunade glared at him angrily. She still couldn't figure out why they had made her Hokage if they all thought her a simpleton. She had to bite her tongue to keep from calling him every foul name that she could think of and instead reply calmly, "I gave him a special truth serum I made myself. He answered my questions of his loyalty to my satisfaction." Danzo opened his mouth again but Tsunade cut him off. "Is my satisfaction not good enough for you Danzo?" Tsunade asked so coldly that the rest of the Council shivered.

Danzo had to fight the urge to shiver with them. They were all reminded forcefully that this was the _Hokage_ they were dealing with, not some inexperienced ninja under their control. No mater how much they tried to forget, they were the one's under _her_ control. But they tried to put that out of their minds by treating her as if she was a child. But no one in their right mind would ever try to control Tsunade, not if they valued their life. And they had to remember that, despite her appearance as a young blond woman, they were dealing with one of the legendary Sannin who had over half a century of experience under her belt.

Danzo was finally able to answer without his voice shaking. "Of course, Hokage-sama, your assurance is quite enough." The rest of the council sighed in relief when Tsunade appeared to relax.

Of course, Tsunade wasn't really relaxed, but she let them think that she forgave Danzo his insult. "Naru also seems to be a famous demon slayer, among other things." She held up the book Kakashi had given her and passed it to the council member on her right. "The young women of the village are going crazy and most of the shinobi are anxious to see him in action, even the Jonin and the Anbu. Anko is chomping at the bit to be let loose with him." She debated whether to tell them of the attempt on Sasuke's life but in the end decided that they didn't need to know everything that went on in the village. They would probably freak if they thought someone was trying to kill their _precious_ Uchiha. Although for the most part what she had told Sasuke after Naruto's death was true, she couldn't deny that a small part of her continued to blame him.

While she was debating what to tell them, the council was talking among themselves. Most of them had heard of Naru and were excited to meet him, although some were skeptical of his power. It seemed the council _had_ been more interested in what was going on _outside_ the village than inside. Now that the demon brat was gone, they didn't need to worry as much about the internal security of the village. They could now concentrate more on the outside threats to the village. They had heard of Naru and some of them even wished he had been around ages ago to kill the brat, or, even better, the Kyuubi himself. Then they would have their Yondaime, Konoha would be peaceful, the Yondaime would have killed Orochimaru during the first attack, and Sasuke would have never had a reason to leave the village. Everything was the fault of that demon brat. Maybe this Naru was just what the doctor ordered? They would have to turn their spies inward to Konoha to investigate this possibility.

Tsunade's ears perked up when she heard this last part. So she was right in thinking that they had been ignoring what was going on inside the village. They didn't know about Inutaisho…but they would if they started snooping. She would have to instruct him to make himself scarce for a while. She was pretty sure he wouldn't be willing to leave just yet though. But this development with Naru was interesting…for now she would ignore what they had said about Naruto, but she wouldn't forget. Were they were actually considering an outsider for Hokage? Were they really _that_ desperate? Tsunade had read numerous books about 'the Demon Slayer' and many of them talked about how other villages tried to get him to stay, but she had never read of a village offering him the position of leader, much less Kage. Could this offer sway him? Sure she trusted him, but she really didn't think any outsider could care for the village and all it's inhabitants in the way that Hokage should. She had seen what had happened when the wrong person was chosen as Kage in other villages, such as the last Kazekage. It brought the village nothing but misfortune and she would not let that happen to Konoha, even if she had to put up with that damn paperwork and this damn council until she died. But she wouldn't totally reject this idea as she had nothing but respect for Naru. She would just wait and see until it was clear, one way or another, whether or not he had what it took to be Hokage. She opened her mouth to say so but then had a sudden thought. She grinned evilly. _This will teach the brat not to call me baa-chan!_

Tsunade cleared her throat only to be ignored as the discussion continued. Tsunade scowled. _Why is it that the council always treats me like a child?_ She winced as the volume got even louder as the book was passed to another council member. And a nearly deaf one at that. "I'M TRYING TO TALK HERE!" the room immediately quietened. "Thank you." She smiled deviously again, humor restored as she thought of ways to torture Naru for his disrespect. "I think that we should test him before we make any rash decisions. Just because he's strong isn't enough of a reason to consider him for Hokage. There is more to being Hokage than simply being strong. Although that _is_ a big part of it." Her smile got even more evil, almost rivaling Orochimaru's. "I think we should let Anko have him."

The council shivered at this statement. Many of them made another note to never get on Tsunade's bad side (which they would automatically forget when they decided to do something that Tsunade wouldn't approve of or when they looked at her when she wasn't in one of her moods). Anko was like a force of nature…a tsunami, totally devastating anything in her path. Unless she was feeling playful and then you had _really_ better watch out.

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Anko was feeling playful.

Naruto shivered, remembering the chuunin exam. _She is still completely insane…and, strangely, I find that extremely sexy._ The Kyuubi side of him found her _fascinating_ and, if Naruto was completely honest with himself, so did he. Now that he and Kyuubi were merged, he saw in her a kindred spirit. He found himself wanting to play back. He stared at her in interest. No, he wasn't really attracted to her, but he would have had to be blind not to appreciate the work of art that was Mitarashi Anko, both in looks and in personality. And foxes always appreciated beautiful things.

Anko almost fell on her face when she found herself on the receiving end of the seduction that she had started. She had just pressed herself up against his broad back and was about to slice at his chest with her nails, when he had moved so fast that he appeared to have teleported behind her. He leaned down to whisper, brushing his lips against her ear as he spoke, "You shouldn't let an enemy get behind you. It could prove hazardous to your health." Then he leapt out of the way as she spun around with a kunai in each hand, a barrage shurikin soon following.

Anko was smiling with delight; she had finally found a playmate! Everyone else in the village besides Kurenai (and even she had her doubts) thought she was crazy, and, privately, she admitted that they might be right. But that made almost everyone afraid of her. Of course, the curse seal Orochimaru gave her that was still on her neck could have something to do with that fact. Or the fact that she was the snake's student in the first place and developed a couple of his sadistic tastes. Whatever the reason, it wasn't everyday she found someone that fought back with her brand of fire and who seemed to enjoy this kind of fight just as much as she did. She settled back into her fighting stance. Might as well have as much fun with this guy as possible before he became too afraid of her to play anymore.

And she tried. But he didn't seem freaked out at all. In fact, he seemed to be relishing the fight just as much, if not more, than she did.

_Why was I ever afraid of Anko again? Sure she's scary and__ slightly insane, but that just makes the fight better._ She tried some of her sluty tricks, but he turned the fight into more of a erotic dance. It must be the kitsune in him that enjoyed this type of thing. From his memories as Kyuubi, he remembered the lightning-quick mood changes, going from deadly to playful in seconds, just like Anko only on a much grander scale.

The stadium was completely silent and Naruto took a moment to look over the people gathered to watch the match. Most were chuunin and Jonin, but Tsunade, the council of elders, and the clan council were there also. Which made sense as they were the ones to arrange the fight. Some of the old geezers looked scandalized, the rest just looked either disgusted, disturbed, embarrassed but interested, or a combination of all these. Some of them even had thin trails of blood running from their noses, which they were trying to hide. Then his eyes found Sasuke.

Naruto stumbled slightly resulting in Anko slicing his shirt open, leaving a thin cut going across his chest that healed before it could even bleed. Naruto quickly got his head back in the fight but couldn't help glancing at Sasuke again. Sasuke's eyes were on his chest and he had the same look in his eyes that he had had when that girl ripped his shirt.

Now, Naruto knew he was a little dense at times, but he was by no means stupid, no matter what his old teammates or anyone else in the village might say. The first time was after finishing a few hundred D-ranked missions so it could be explained as anger at having to do missions he felt were demeaning or that his little scheme didn't work. Sasuke had been looking at him like this at other times too, but the look was often gone before he could blink, leaving him to believe he had imagined it. But Sasuke didn't have any reason to be angry this time and he didn't think Naru could be watching now so he had no reason to hide it. Plus there was the way that he was looking at Anko's and his fight. He looked like he didn't like the way she was rubbing up against Naru, but didn't know what he could do about it. He had almost the same look he had had when they were younger and he had thought Naruto was getting better than he, the great Uchiha prodigy, was. But this was more intense somehow and seemed to be a different kind of anger. The ancient part of him that was Kyuubi remembered that look. Jealousy mixed with desire?

Naruto was slightly dazed. Sasuke was attracted to him and jealous of Anko? How did he feel about that? He put himself on autopilot and retreated into his mind to think about all the time Sasuke and he had spent together, both past and present. How could Sasuke like him when he acted like he hated him? Did Sasuke even know what he was feeling? Did he feel the same way? He knew nothing he had ever felt for anyone in his life compared to the way he felt about Sasuke, but was that the best-friend type of love or was it lover-love?

Naruto forcefully pulled his mind away from the topic. Sasuke probably only felt lust for him anyway so it didn't matter what he felt. And it wasn't like they could have any type of real relationship anyway as he would be leaving soon and Sasuke had to revive his clan. And, since the tailed demons couldn't have children in the regular way, Naruto couldn't help him with that. To even have any kits at all, he would have to be in Kyuubi's body and he didn't think the villagers would take too well to that if they ever found out. He stopped himself again. Why was he even thinking of this? It wasn't ever going to happen so there was no point in even acknowledging Sasuke or his feelings for him. He was slightly depressed at this but, as his eyes lingered over the audience again and saw the looks of disgust and shock on the Council of Elders' faces at his and Anko's playing, he grew mischievous again. It had been a long time since he had pulled a prank. It would have been even funnier if he had been able to pull out his Sexy Jutsu and use it, but that would ruin everything so he just had to make do with what he had.

He maneuvered Anko so that her legs were wrapped around his waist and leaned forward to whisper in her ear with a jerk of the head toward the council. "Want to see just how badly we can freak out the old farts?"

Anko glanced at the stands and smiled wickedly. "I knew I was going to like you. If they thought this was bad, we'll just have to step it up a notch. You game?" She asked, rocking her hips forward and delighting in seeing Ebisu faint out of the corner of her eye, splashing some of the people in front of him with blood from his nose. She was ecstatic that she had at last found a kindred spirit. She wasn't interested in serious playing and didn't think he was either, but it was always fun to see just how much they could dirty people's minds up. To bad he wasn't a girl; then it would have been really fun to watch the council have heart attacks. Either that or die from blood loss, depending on just how stuck up they really were.

She felt some killing intent radiating from the audience and her eyes found Uchiha Sasuke, one of her fellow Anbu captains and cursee of Orochimaru. She hadn't worked with him often, but she remembered wondering just how long that stick shoved up his ass was. She would have never thought he would have lowered himself to feeling any type of human emotions such as jealousy and lust, both of which she was familiar with and knew when she saw them. And Uchiha was definitely in the throes of both. She glanced back at Naru. "You do realize that Uchiha over there has the hots for you?" she watched him blush, surprised he was capable of it after all that they had been doing. She grinned wickedly. She had always loved living dangerously. That love of danger had gotten her into trouble more times than she could count. She leaned closer to Naru and whispered in his ear, "You want to see just how jealous we can make him?"

Naruto gritted his teeth and ran forward with her legs still locked around him and slammed her back into the wall, knocking the breath out of her. He pinned her arms above her head and leaned forward to whisper furiously, "I don't care about that. I just want to show this council of yours it can't hope to control me." So _maybe_ he was still a _little_ resentful of the council.

When Anko got her breath back she grinned evilly. "Well, count me in. I do that every chance I get so I'm a pro!"

*********************************break*********************************

They managed to put most of the audience out of commission in a manner similar to Ebisu, outrage the less perverted members of the council, and make Kakashi completely ignore his book for about thirty minutes before the attack came in the form of a huge explosion. This managed to rouse the shinobi who had fainted. The left side of the stadium was completely blown off and, as the dust cleared, they could make out seven figures. Their cloaks billowed in the breeze and no one could make out their features because of the straw hats that were pulled so low that they were hidden. But many of the audience had fought these people before. And, although he hadn't seen them in eight years, Naruto knew he would recognize these people, no _monsters_, anywhere. He glanced up at the council bitterly. The Akatsuki were more like monsters than he would ever be, even in Kyuubi's beast form.

Deidara, Kisame, Zetsu, Konan, Hidan, Kakuzu, and finally Tobi. Naruto absently wondered where Itachi was as he studied the members who _were_ there. He hadn't known all their names before he left, but he had picked up quite a lot of information about them in his travels. He had actually been planning on going to look for them when he had gotten distracted by Inutaisho's problem. At least now he wouldn't have to now that they had evidently decided to come to him. Although he really didn't know why they _were_ here. Konoha didn't have another Jinchuuriki, not even one of a lesser demon than the tailed beasts. There was only two other tailed beast that had not been captured by the Akatsuki, Yonbi and Hachibi. And they would never find them; they was too well hidden.

And so, of course, was Kyuubi. Naruto smirked under his mask, absently unwinding Anko's legs from around his waist. Anko had a similar smirk on her face, slightly more evil but way less smug. "At least now I can kill someone without getting yelled at."

The majority of the upper level jonin were busy herding people out of the stadium and getting the council members to safety. Only a few made their way to stand with Anko and Naruto. Inutaisho made a move to join them from where he was staying out of the sight of the council, but Naruto shook his head. _Leave. We don't need them getting any more upper level youkai than they have already. _

Inutaisho nodded. _Knock their heads in Kit._ He turned and vanished, knowing he would just be in the way. The kit had more of a grudge with these people than he did and he could certainly handle them. If the humans knew what was good for them, they would just stay out of the way and let Naruto handle this. But humans almost never knew what was good for them, Kami love them.

Naruto turned his attention to the group beside him. Anko, Kakashi, Asuma (**AN:** In my story he is _not_ dead!), Kuranai, Tsunade, and the whole of Rookie Nine and Team 10. He would have said it was overkill if they had been any other opponent. He knew he could take them but there was no telling what surprises they could have up their sleeves.

Sasuke kept scanning his surroundings methodically, most likely looking for Itachi. Kisame laughed when he saw this. "If you're looking for Itachi-kun, he's not coming. He has more important matters to attend to than decimating his home village. After all," he taunted, swinging his now uncovered sword in an arc in front of him, "it's not as if there is anyone here who can challenge him."

All Sasuke did was grit his teeth at this. Naruto was surprised. In the past he had always been extremely touchy when the subject of his brother came up. The Sasuke he remembered would have already charged Kisame and tried to use Chidori on him. This Sasuke just got into his fighting stance and then got a look of calm concentration on his face.

Deidara got out several of his explosive clay birds and let them fly around his head. "I wonder if I can cover this entire stadium in a pink mist, mmm." (**AN:** Is it pink mist or red mist? I can never remember.)

Tobi beamed at Deidara from the other side of the line of Akatsuki members, his one visible eye forming a 'U'. "I can help you with that Deidara-kun!" he pulled out two canisters and started shaking them. "I have some air fresheners and I think that they are pink." He started skipping around the group, spraying the canisters as he went. The Konoha shinobi sweatdropped.

The veins in Deidara's forehead started pulsing wildly. Suddenly, the birds circling his head scattered as he leapt towards his skipping partner and tried to strangle him before he was pulled off by Kisame.

Kisame straightened and sighed. "Tobi, didn't I tell you to stay at your end of the line for just this reason? We don't need you two fighting right now." He paused. "And I don't even want to know why you brought air fresheners to a battle."

Hidan sniffed. "Barbarians."

Kakuzu sneered at his partner out of habit before turning back to their opponents. "Let's get this over with so I can get back to counting my money."

Zetsu stayed silent, watching the interaction between the other members but he too got ready for battle, as did Konan. Then, suddenly, Zetsu wasn't there anymore. He reappeared behind Hinata but fortunately she had already activated her Byakugan, allowing her to see him appear behind her. She blocked his kunai with one of her own and soon all the others were engaged in battle.

Shizune came back from guiding others to safety and almost screamed in frustration when she saw Tsunade right in the middle of the fighting. She cleared a path with her poison needles and came up behind the Hokage. "Tsunade-sama!" She yelled even as she threw needles at the lackeys that the Akatsuki had brought with them, making them jump back to try to avoid them. Not all were successful. She grabbed Tsunade's arm. "We have to get you to safety!" Tsunade opened her mouth to protest but Shizune cut her off. "Because you are Hokage we have to make sure you are safe. Only if there is no other option will you be allowed to fight. We can't risk you dying. Think about what would happen if the council had to name another Hokage in the middle of this war. We have other shinobi perfectly capable of defending the village." She paused to block another attack. "You are to important to risk unnecessarily-" she stopped suddenly. "I don't know why I'm bothering to explain this to you! You know all this already, so get out of this damn battle and get to safety before I drag you!"

Tsunade soon found herself being dragged toward the entrance of the stadium. Deidara saw this and sent a few of his _special _clay birds after her. They were a new design and much faster than his regular ones and packed almost five times the explosive force. Tsunade and all those within thirty feet of her would be dead when they exploded.

Tsuande wasn't a sannin and the Hokage for nothing. She noticed the birds and sent kunai flying in their direction. What she didn't expect was the extra explosive force they packed. She and Shizune were blown back hard by the resulting explosion. Luckily none of the Konoha shinobi were injured by the explosion, but some of the Akatsuki's lackeys were blown apart.

Tsunade sat back up with difficulty, shaking her head to clear it. She was enraged. She had almost been killed by CLAY BIRDS! So what if they were explosive and powered by the chakra of a S-class missing nin; it would still have been humiliating. As soon as she was able to get up, she was going to rip that Deidara guy's head off. With that thought in mind, she looked around for the guy, just in time to see more of those _stupid _clay birds flying towards her again. Then she noticed the blood surrounding her and froze.

Shizune was out cold, having hit her head on a rock when they were blown back. Tsunade was out of commission. Five highly explosive clay birds were flying at extremely high speeds towards them. They were as good as dead.

Naruto wasn't going to have it. He was still a Konoha shinobi, even if he didn't wear the forehead protector anymore. He would protect the old hag, not just because she was the Hokage, not just because she was a member of this village that he had sworn to protect, but also because she was like the mother, or maybe grandmother, he never had. Even if she didn't know who he was, she was the closest thing to family he had, including Iruka, Jiraya, and his team. Kakashi was strange, but even he fit in there too. Like an annoying, perverted uncle. So there was no way he was going to allow _anyone_, especially some girly-boy asshole, to kill a member of his family. _Especially not with little birds. Tsunade would come back and haunt me if I allowed her to be humiliated like that!_

Naruto was fighting Konan but he immediately went to Tsunade's and Shizune's rescue. One second he was there and the next second he seemed to have disappeared. Konan looked around for him frantically but couldn't find him. Then she saw a flash of yellow and black out of the corner of her eye and turned just in time to see Naruto appear in front of Tsunade and run straight towards some of Deidara's newest creations, forming the hand signs for a jutsu that she wasn't familiar with. Konan was slightly alarmed. Those birds were far bigger than the ones Deidara usually used. Even as this thought entered her mind, she was running and yelling for the others to do the same. Not that she cared if they lived or died personally; it was just that their chances of success were greater if they could all fight. She also didn't want to go through the trouble of training a new partner. Pein had paired her with Zetsu a few years ago and while she didn't particularly like him (she didn't really like any of the Akatsuki other than Pein), he didn't irritate her and he knew when to leave her alone. She really appreciated that and would be extremely pissed if he were killed.

As Naruto ran towards the explosive birds he formed a barrier type jutsu to trap the explosion, then he directed the entire explosive force toward Hidan, using the barrier like a giant slingshot. Unfortunately for the _supposed_ immortal, Naruto had very good aim. When the dust and smoke cleared, only ashes were left. Every living cell was destroyed.

This completely pissed off Kakuzu. HE wanted to be the one to kill Hidan and would have already if he had managed to figure out how to accomplish it. Now this upstart who he had never even seen before managed to do what he had been trying to do for years. Well, the idiot had deserved it. He let his guard down after Kakuzu had told him to be cautious. Now the Leader would be forever displeased with him for killing his partners again. Kakuza grew even angrier at this thought, sending out threads, killing several unimportant shinobi and wounding Kiba in the shoulder. The masks on his back combined their power and headed straight for Naruto.

Naruto turned and saw this and slowly took out Tetsusaiga; he had to do this right, to pack as much power into the attack as possible. "Kaze no Kizu!" Of all the Akatsuki, Kakuzu was the one that he was most worried about. Hidan had been immortal, yes, but there were ways around that. If you completely destroyed his body so that it couldn't be pieced together again, his immortality would mean nothing. Fortunately, they didn't even have to worry about even the remote possibility of him being put back together because the contained force of the explosion had turned every cell in his body to ash. Kakuzu, however, had the most battle experience, seemed almost psychic when it came to reading his opponent, and was _virtually_ immortal, probably just as much as Hidan had been, just because he was more cautious and could draw upon the people surrounding him to replace any vital organ that he lost. And should he be dismembered, his threads would reattach the body part in question almost immediately. So, he had to be taken out as soon as possible to keep this from happening.

The destructive power of the Kaze no Kizu completely obliterated the masks, ripping them apart without any pause at all, continuing on its path toward Kakuzu. Kakuzu immediately sent out threads to the people nearest him, which, unfortunately for the Akatsuki, included Zetsu and Deidara. Now, Kakuzu couldn't care less about Deidara (_He's just stupid. I hate him_.) but he really didn't like that he had just killed the only member of the Akatsuki other than the Leader that he considered his superior. He regretted it, but he wasn't one to dwell on things not of a monetary nature. The waves of the Kaze no Kizu slashed through him and he instantly replaced the organs that were damaged and sowed himself back together with his threads. He now had only two spare hearts as one of the hearts he had taken had been too diseased to be useful and Naruto's attack had destroyed one of the hearts he had taken.

Naruto cursed under his breath and got ready to attack. This was not going to be pretty. He would have to draw him away from the rest of the fighters so that he wouldn't be able to draw on them for more hearts.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had killed Kisame with his own sword after using a new hypnotizing jutsu with his Sharingan he had developed. It was the first time that he had used it on an opponent in a real battle, but it worked like a charm since Kisame was too surprised to do anything. Sasuke was fighting Tobi when the explosion startled both of them. It knocked Sasuke to his knees and sent Tobi flying backwards when a stray rock nailed him in the forehead. Sasuke immediately went to take advantage of the situation but was caught in the Mangekyo Sharingan.

A few seconds later had Sasuke gasping for breath on the ground. He knew that he would be alright in a few hours but he needed strength _now_. He was probably the only person in the world that had built up a somewhat immunity to the Mangekyo. He had been caught in it so many times by his brother that it was a wonder he had not been driven insane. He couldn't believe he had been fooled by his brother's disguise, even if it was a remarkably good one. Who would suspect the Great Uchiha Itachi to be masquerading as an immature idiot? But the Sharingan did not lie and only one other Uchiha was left alive other than Sasuke.

Sasuke sneered. "Are you resorting to hiding now, big brother? After that stunt do you really think that no one knows it's you? Have the decency to at least fight me face to face and not hide behind that disguise and mask."

The one visible eye behind the mask stared at Sasuke coldly. "Boy, you know not to whom you are speaking to. You'll show respect to your greatest ancestor! I'm not Uchiha Itachi but the Great Uchiha Madara!"

Sasuke looked at the man who he was sure was his brother warily. "So you're not just insane, you are an insane _idiot_ if you think that I'm going to believe that." _Although, he is talking an awful lot. Is it possible another member of my clan survived? Did he help my brother murder our clan and that is why he was allowed to survive? He _does_ have the Sharingan and I can't imagine my brother acting like this even for the benefit of a disguise. That's the only explanation._

'Uchiha Madara' continued to look at his 'descendant' coldly. "I can see why your father favored Itachi. You show no respect to those who are responsible for your very existence. I chose this body, first, because the person inhabiting it was an Uchiha and, second, because it was near death and thus easier to enter. Too bad Itachi is so disgustingly healthy or I could take over _his_ body." He paused and seemed to consider something. "Maybe, I won't have to kill you. I could just take over your body. Orochimaru must have had _some_ reason to want it."

It was all Sasuke could do not go into a blind rage. What was it with all these crazy old people wanting his body? He hadn't thought about it much when he was younger because he had been so intent on his revenge that he didn't bother thinking about it but, now that he was older, he found it greatly disturbing. He had long since stopped caring that his family had favored Itachi. He brought his rage under control and, after taking a deep breath, smirked. "Well, I'll just have to educate you then, won't I?" That said, he attacked.

Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Lee, Neji, Hinata, and some others had been dealing with the seemingly endless lackeys that the Akatsuki had brought with them so that their fellow Konoha shinobi could concentrate on the S-Class missing-nins. Anko had been helping but had gotten tired of all the easy kills and had gone after Konan and was currently battling, snakes vs. paper. Both had numerous cuts all over their bodies and Anko's shirt was about to fall off but she still had that evil grin on her face that struck fear into the hearts of genin (and men) everywhere. The older jonin were guarding the Hokage and Shizune, silently watching the younger generation take care of the Akatsuki, ready to jump in at a moment's notice if they were needed. But it didn't look like that would be the case. It was obvious to all of them that Konoha would emerge the victor.

Konan must have come to this conclusion, too, because she yelled, "Pein! We need the Neko!"

Anko looked at her like she was crazy (which is really saying something coming from Anko). Why would she need a cat?

Konan laughed at the look on Anko's face. "You will all die now. There is no way that you can withstand the power of-"

It happened so fast that no one was prepared. One second Konan was laughing, the next she was literally in pieces. When the dust cleared the air surrounding her body, they saw a small two-tailed cat (**AN:** Picture Kirara from Inuyasha, except black and red). Sakura and Ino actually started forward to pet the thing, even though it was licking claws that were stained with Konan's blood. It was obviously a demon, but every person watching would have been hard-pressed to kill something so cute.

Except Naruto.

When Sakura and Ino started forward, their intention obvious, he was instantly by their side, preventing them from taking one more step toward the creature. The cat looked at the three shinobi with disinterest, eyes devoid of anything, including hate, as it finished cleaning its claws. When they were completely clean, it surveyed the remainder of its intended victims. When its eyes came into contact with Kakuzu's, for the first time something shone in its eyes. Hate. Again, it was done before anyone could blink and before Kakuzu could react. He died before he could even think to summon his extra hearts or use his threads. The cat seemed to take more pleasure from this kill than it had from Konan's, though.

The cat seemed to get bored with its current form. Slowly, its limbs lengthened and its hair receded back into its skin. In place of its fur, a skin-tight, black cat suit molded to the form of an inhumanly beautiful woman. Flaming auburn hair flowed down her back and blood-red eyes stared at the gawking shinobi. The cat ears perched on top of her head twitched, her hands flexed, and her nails lengthened into three inch claws.

This time it was Kakashi who Naruto had to hold back. He was actually drooling.

Naruto thought fast. Of all the biju, Nibi was one of two (well, three if you included him) that had actually liked most humans. Not as much as Inutaisho, but she liked them well enough (the rest of the biju tolerated humans for the most part, except Shukaku ever since he got fused with that crazy monk). He knew that she wouldn't be doing this if she had a choice. He had only to look into her eyes to know she wasn't in control. When she was free, she was so full of life and mischief. As Kyuubi, they had gotten into so much mischief when they were younger. She was like his older sister. He would kill her if he had to, but he would rather break the hold of whatever, or whoever, was controlling her. As the ruler of the biju, it was his duty to release them all, or kill them if they couldn't be released or if they refused to submit. And he knew that Nibi would rather be killed by him than controlled by the Akatsuki.

Naruto came to the conclusion that, if he was to keep both the Konoha shinobi and Nibi alive, he would have to take the fight away from Konoha and into the forest.

With that goal in mind, he turned to Sasuke, whose fight with Tobi had stopped with the appearance of Nibi when Tobi had collapsed in the middle of a flame jutsu. "Don't let anyone follow me. Most of Nibi's jutsu are fire-based and I would rather her get away from the village. Although the majority of the buildings are mostly fire proof, Nibi's jutsu are more potent than most and would probably burn the entire village down. I'll try to get her as far away from the village as I can." Without waiting for Sasuke to respond and as fast as the Neko, he rammed her and they were gone from sight, uprooting numerous trees in their wake.

Sasuke turned to the other shinobi. "Ibiki, take him," he pointed to Tobi, "to the interrogation room. He seems to be an Uchiha and claims to be possessed by my ancestor, Uchiha Madara." Ibiki did as ordered. "Sakura, Hinata, Ino, you will get together some volunteers to gather all the injured and take them to the hospital. Make sure that the Hokage and Shizune get priority. We will need them to help with all the other injured people. Kakashi, Neji, and Shikamaru will come with me to find Naru and the biju."

Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome. However, at least it's not the nine-tails we're tracking. Then we would all be dead by now." _But at least then I'd hopefully get some peace._

The four shinobi set off, following the trail of fallen trees and turned earth deep into the forest.

*********************************break*********************************

Naruto made sure they stopped in a clearing that was far enough away from the village to give him at least ten minutes before Sasuke showed up. Even though he had told him to make sure no one followed him, he _knew_ Sasuke. He would never trust anyone else—especially someone who he didn't know very well—to protect the village when he felt he was perfectly capable of doing it himself. After all, no one could possibly be better than him. Oh, intellectually Sasuke knew this wasn't true, but Naruto attributed his attitude to Uchiha arrogance and pride.

Naruto pushed Nibi away forcefully, putting several feet between them. "Now that we're alone…" Naruto's voice changed subtly, becoming silkier, and his pupils became catlike. He felt his vocal cords change slightly and he spoke in a language that no human was capable of speaking as his youki permeated the clearing, insuring that whoever was controlling his old friend would not be able to interfere. "We don't have to fight you know." Something flashed in her eyes, but they quickly grew vacant again and she tried to attack him with her claws. She was slower than before though and Naruto was able to dodge easily. Naruto's voice softened even more, taking on a faintly pleading tone. "Nibi, don't make me kill you. I can protect you from whoever is controlling you and together we can free the rest of our brothers and sisters from the Akatsuki's control." Naruto could practically see the struggle taking place behind her eyes even as she continued to attack him. A black and red seal appeared around her neck, almost like a collar. The longer the fight continued, the more prominent the seal became until it seemed to glow. The skin around the seal became an angry red color and he could finally clearly see something in her eyes…

Pain.

Naruto felt anger building up inside him. How _dare_ these monsters do this to Nibi! No matter what he had to do to accomplish it, he _would_ break their control over her! With that thought in mind, he did something he hoped would be strong enough to break the seal connecting her soul to the sealing statue. His voice hardened and took on a commanding tone. "As the acknowledged ruler of the biju, a title given to me by the very gods themselves, you owe me your obedience. This bond has been in place for millennia, far longer than the length of time that this seal has stained your body and soul. Your first loyalty is to me, not these bastards. I COMMAND YOU…" Nibi's eyes widened and the glow of the seal was building, "AWAKE AND SHOW THESE BASTARDS THAT THEY CAN'T HOPE TO CONTROL NIBI, GREATEST OF THE NEKOMATA!"

With these words, Nibi's eyes glowed even brighter and the seal fractured, then broke, in a burst of blinding light. Naruto thought that he heard a distant roar of rage, but he couldn't be sure. Nibi fell to her knees, breathing extremely labored. Naruto knelt beside her, concerned for his friend. She was pretty weak and her chakra was almost completely exhausted.

Nibi'b shoulders started to shake and Naruto started to put his arms around her to comfort her but stopped when he realized the reason they were shaking. The bitch was laughing hysterically! Naruto stood up and started muttering to himself about crazy bitches that didn't even have the courtesy to thank the people who rescued them.

Nibi sobered immediately and would have leapt to her feet in anger if she had had the energy. She settled for glaring murderously at her friend/sibling/tormentor/savior. "Don't _call_ me a BITCH! I don't care how much Inutaisho would wish that I was one, I am _not_ a filthy DOG! Can you imagine?" she shuddered, but grew serious. "Thank you for saving me though. I don't think that my spirit could have stood being under their control much longer, especially if they had made me kill an entire village like they did Shukaku. Although we both know that he didn't really have to be forced. He would probably join up with the Akatsuki just for the opportunity to spill all the blood he wants if he didn't know that you would kill him for getting out of hand. Speaking of which, how did you get those vile humans to believe you were dead? All of us knew that you couldn't be or we would have felt it but we were able to gather from what little we overheard that they thought you were dead."

Naruto was puzzled and just shrugged. "I don't know why they think I'm dead. It's possible they thought I was dead just because no one has seen me in eight years but I would have thought they would have had spies in Konoha to tell them differently. Maybe they thought I would have come back to Konoha if I had been alive. Still, I wouldn't expect for them to just give up without proof." Naruto decided to put it to the back of his mind to ponder over later. "We don't have much time left before the other shinobi get here. I want you to hide in my old den. All the old wards should still be in effect so, while you will have no trouble getting in, no one else should even be able to sense that you are there, much less get in. It will be the safest place for you." Naruto paused, considering. He tossed her a kunai. "Spill some of your blood all around this clearing and set fire to some of the trees. Make sure that it doesn't get out of control but I don't want anyone to suspect that there wasn't much of a fight here. I'll summon some of the ashes of Soretsuchi so that they don't get suspicious when they don't find a body."

Nibi laughed delightedly. "So you finally killed the bastard? I'm surprised you haven't done so sooner. Although he _was_ much more discrete when you were at large and outside of your jinchuuriki. Speaking of which, how did you gain control without killing him? I thought there was a seal to prevent that from happening."

Naruto shook his head. "It's a long story. I'll be sure to tell you the details when I come to see you tonight, but for now just know I didn't take control away from my jin. I merged with him." Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly. "It feels strange talking about myself in the third person but I expect I will have to get used to it. Suffice it to say that I have the memories of both my _demon_ self and my human self. So, I am the same fox you knew, it's just that now I have another _human_ identity also. I'm just lucky that we had such similar personalities or the merger would never have worked."

Nibi's eyes shone with incredulous interest. "You actually merged with a human? And you're still alive?" Realizing what she just said, she yelled, "Wait a sec, what the hell-"

Naruto put a hand over her mouth quickly. "I don't know how much longer we have, but I don't want anyone to hear us talking. I can feel Sasuke's chakra and by my calculations we should only have at most a couple more minutes. Leave quietly…and at least try to keep your curiosity in check until I come tonight. I still have some preparations to make before the others get here." Naruto turned away from Nibi and muttered, "And I still have to find a way to get away from the house without Sasuke finding out. That man certainly seems to have an instinctive knack for finding me even when I don't want to be found. I wonder if he's always been like that or if it's a recent development?" he pondered, lost in trying to remember if he had shown a similar knack when they were kids as he scratched and scorched a few trees so it would look like a vicious fight had taken place.

Nibi had turned to go when she heard his mutterings. A sly grin spread across her beautiful face as she turned around to follow him. She snuck up behind him without his notice and whispered in his ear, "It sounds as if you like this human. Is there something you'd like to tell me, my dear? Do you finally have a fuck buddy?" she vaguely recalled the exquisite man that Naruto had been talking to just before they had left the village. She licked her lips. "If it's the guy that I'm thinking of, I can't blame you. I wouldn't mind trying him out when you are finished."

An inhuman growl filled the air and Nibi jumped back just in time to avoid the swipe of a claw. "What was that for?!" she yelled, surprised to have drawn such a serious reaction. _He must care for this human more than I thought._

Naruto glared at Nibi, eyes glowing red with youki. "_Never_ talk about Sasuke like that. He was my best friend before I left Konoha and I still consider him such. He deserves much better than what I can give him."

Nibi was confused. "What's wrong with you? You are the ruler of the biju. If anything, he doesn't deserve you." Nibi hesitantly hugged Naruto. "Even though I didn't know you in your human form, I can tell that you are still the best friend that anyone could have. I would have died if you hadn't saved me. And this isn't the first time either. You have a huge heart. Whether you were human or demon, I would follow you to the ends of the earth. I can't imagine anyone not wanting to be with you. If he doesn't love you for who you are, then _he_ is the stupid one."

Naruto closed his eyes, not even aware of Nibi leaving, finally accepting what he had been fighting ever since setting eyes on Sasuke again. He loved Uchiha Sasuke. And not just in a friendly type way either. This was the forever type love that poets wrote about. He had never thought he would ever feel this way about anyone, as Kyuubi or as Naruto. As Kyuubi, he was the only one of his kind and as such would never find a mate. As Naruto, he was considered the same as the fox and would never be allowed to. And who would want him anyway, even if he had been allowed to be happy? Once they found out about his past, they would hate him anyway. Either that or fear him. Either way, he wouldn't have been able to stand it. He was better off alone. He wouldn't allow himself to fall in love. Not for real.

But then Sasuke came along. He hadn't understood when they were younger. He had felt something when they had kissed on their first day as genin, but he had thought that was disgust. Now he didn't know…but he _did_ know that the thought of kissing Sasuke now that they were grown up inspired something that was definitely _not_ disgust.

So where did that leave him? Sasuke would never see him as _anything_, even a friend. Even if he did, the council would never allow him to let the Uchiha line die, and Naruto didn't think Sasuke would allow that either, no matter what his feelings. Even if the impossible happened and Sasuke felt the same for him, Naruto couldn't stay here. Sooner or later it would come to light just who and, more importantly, _what_ he was. And it would get even worse when they figured out the seal was no longer keeping Kyuubi at bay. No one would want him there and he knew Konoha wouldn't fail to tell every other village about him, thus making it more difficult for him to keep helping people.

One thing was perfectly clear: nothing could come of this attraction but heartache. Either Sasuke rejected him now or he rejected him later. He couldn't see any possibility that allowed him to be happy. It would be better to just cut his losses now and leave.

He was snapped out of his self-pity when the object of his thoughts jumped down in front of him. Sasuke looked around the clearing, scowling as he took in the scorched trees and the deep scratch marks that had been left by Naruto's claws. Nibi hadn't covered her tracks until she had left the clearing. Naruto knew that if Sasuke tried to follow her, he would only get a few feet before it would be as if she had just vanished into thin air. There was no way for Sasuke to track her; only another biju would be able to.

Sasuke turned his attention back to Naru, still scowling. "How could you let her get away? She's probably making her way back to the Akatsuki right now. How long has she been gone? Maybe we can head her off and finish her between the five of us."

For the first time Naruto noticed Shikamaru, Neji, and Kakashi. He couldn't believe that he had let himself be so distracted that he totally missed their presence. "There's no way for you to catch up to her. I've heard a few things about her in my travels and you've seen her speed for yourself back in the village. She's probably already wherever she was going. And, even if you did find her, you saw what she did to Konan and Kakuzu, and they were on her side." As he said this, he wondered. Why had she attacked them first? Sure the control that the leader of the Akatsuki had over her wasn't perfect, but Naruto didn't think she would have been able to kill _two_ Akatsuki members in a row if that hadn't been the intention of her controller. He would have to remember to ask her about that tonight.

Neji stared off into the forest and activated his Byakugan. Sasuke waited impatiently for his findings.

Neji deactivated his Byakugan and turned back to the group. "She's long gone. I can't find a trace of her anywhere. I can't even tell what direction she went."

"Damn!" Sasuke didn't like it when anyone got the best of him. He could still feel the adrenalin rushing through his veins. Every nerve on his body was tingling, anticipating the battle that was not to come.

Shikamaru sighed. "Can we go back to the village now?"

Sasuke ground his teeth, but nodded his assent. Neji and Shikamaru left. Kakashi soon followed, but not before he gave Sasuke a sly look. He hoped that all those years as his sensei had taught the boy _something_. If he was correctly interpreting the vibes between the two men, in Sasuke's current state there was no telling what could happen. He didn't discriminate; as long as it was _something_ perverted, he was all for it.

The minutes passed in silence as Sasuke tried to calm his nerves and Naruto tried to ignore his feelings. But neither succeeded. Sasuke couldn't seem to calm down no matter how deeply he breathed and Naruto's knowledge of his feelings was still too new for him to put out of his mind.

Sasuke finally decided nothing short of a no-holds-barred fight would help. "Why did you let her get away? If I would have known that you couldn't finish her, I would have taken care of her myself!"

Naruto fell back on his old habit of fighting to keep others from guessing his feelings. "You think you could have beaten her? I doubt you could have beaten a lesser demon, much less one of the biju! You have the chakra of an infant compared to her! Not to mention that she has thousands of years more experience than you do!"

Sasuke growled and took a swing at him. Naruto let him land that hit, hoping the pain would lessen the effect of Sasuke's nearness.

Sparks flew through the air as kunai met and were deflected. The fight was raw. No chakra was used; it was strictly Taijutsu and weapons. Anyone watching would have been amazed at the skill the two showed. But the village was miles away and no one was around to see. The two fighters were alone. Even the animals had long since vacated the area.

Sasuke's nerves refused to be calmed no matter how long the fight progressed. Instead, they seemed to be growing more sensitive with each minute that passed. He felt hot, too hot even with all the exertion that he had been doing. He wanted something, but he had no idea what it was.

Naruto wasn't much better. He wasn't used to this feeling. He had never desired anyone, not really, unless you counted those times with Sasuke when he hadn't known what he was feeling. Now that he did, it was all he could think about. Which was probably why Sasuke was getting so many hits in.

Naruto pinned Sasuke against a tree. All he wanted to do was get away from Sasuke before he did something that he would regret. "Sasuke, let's just stop. This is getting boring." _This is anything but boring. I'm surprised lightning didn't strike me right there_.

Sasuke growled, his Sharingan automatically activating in his anger. He pushed Naruto to the ground and straddled him with his hands holding Naruto's wrists beside his head.

Both of them froze.

Slowly, their eyes met. Both saw surprise and another emotion that neither had ever seen with such intensity on another's face.

Desire.

Naruto closed his eyes tightly and bit his lip. He had to fight this. There was no future in it. He could tear his hands out of Sasuke's grip right now and nothing would happen. He didn't need this complication in his life. But why did it feel so right?

Sasuke stared at the masked face, transfixed. He slowly raised Naru's hands above his head so that he could hold them down with his left hand. Then he reached for the bottom of the mask.

Naruto didn't stop him as he raised the mask, halting only when his lips were exposed. Naruto clinched his eyes tighter, still biting his lip. When Sasuke's fingers glided across his lips, he bit harder, drawing blood.

Sasuke's hold on his hands tightened. His free hand went behind Naruto's head and he slowly lowered his head until their lips met.

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I don't really know all that much about the Akatsuki so don't kill me if I'm not 100 percent accurate (or even if I'm not 50 percent accurate). I just needed to get them all killed off that I wanted killed off so I could get on with the story. I hoped you liked the second part of this chapter. I'm not really good at battle scenes but I did my best. The only thing that gives me more trouble than battle scenes is sex scenes and the battle with Anko had a little bit of both. Well, maybe not actual SEX but definite sexual situations.

I don't think that I have to tell you that, although I'm aware of certain developments in the manga, most of those facts will not be true for this story. I have only read up to the beginning of Part II and, since I don't remember all the details, use Wikipedia for most of my character information. So, although Tobi is said to actually be the immortal Uchiha Madara, he will not be in my story. I'm going to interpret the immortality of Madara in another way. He is going to possess various members of the Uchiha clan and take control of their bodies in order to achieve his ends. I think that I'm going to have him want to destroy the world. (Mwahahahaha!)

Thank you to all reviewers.


	6. Part Six: The Offer and More Revelations

Part Six: The Offer and More Revelations

Sasuke frantically rushed through the village toward the hospital. He _had _to talk to Sakura!

Sasuke suddenly stopped. He shook his head, disgusted. He was acting like a _girl_! He was an Uchiha! Uchiha didn't freak out over something as simple as a kiss.

_Uchihas don't kiss other men either,_ he thought and resumed his mad dash to the hospital. He wouldn't mention the kiss, but Sakura was always good for a distraction now that she had given up on a relationship with him.

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Naruto still sat in the clearing, fingering his now-healed lips in a dazed fashion. He and Sasuke had done no more than touch lips when Sasuke had jumped up with panic in his eyes and left.

He should have expected something like this to happen. They had always been in each others' faces when they were younger and with this new attraction between them it was bound to happen sooner or later. But…it _had_ been nice. For something that had started out so violent, it was astonishing how gentle the kiss was, even considering how short it had been.

He needed to talk about everything with someone. Inutaisho was out; he wouldn't understand and would probably make some perverted comment. He would give anything to talk with Iruka or Tsunade but they couldn't give a useful opinion without knowing the whole story. Kakashi was definitely out since both of those points applied to him. He hadn't felt so alone since he had left the village eight years ago.

But there was someone who would listen to him without judgment. He had promised her he would come that night, but it wouldn't make much difference if he came early. No one was around to follow him, not that it would do them much good anyway. He was extraordinarily fast even when he didn't use his teleporting technique, which was an improvement on his father's Hirashin (although it used a lot more chakra and didn't really work too well for distances shorter than twenty miles).

He was just about to get up and run to his old den to talk with Nibi when he sensed someone on the edge of the clearing. "I thought you would be too busy helping out in the hospital to take the time to come out here just to chat with me." He turned his to face Tsunade and he sat up.

Tsunade scowled. "I didn't come out here just to see you, gaki! I came to check to see if you were alright after dealing with Nibi. I saw what she was capable of back there." She knelt down and started to examine him with her chakra before he waved her away.

"I'm fine, just a little low on chakra but nothing a good night's sleep won't fix. It took all I had to break the seal they put on her. That's one reason why I'm not too worried about her coming back. If my information on Nibi is correct, then she is one of the few demons who think of humans as something other than inferior beings. She actually likes them, er, us. She won't try for revenge, especially after I set her free of the Akatsuki's control."

Tsunade stared at him. "You do know that what you say you did was impossible right? Breaking a seal strong enough to contain a biju shouldn't be able to be done, even by a seal master on par with Jiraiya, who, much as I hate to admit it, is probably the best seal master in all the elemental countries."

Naruto shook his head at her. "Jiraiya-sama," he shuddered at having to use that suffix, "would be the first to tell you that nothing is impossible when dealing with seals as long as you have enough chakra to power them. Normally it is extremely difficult to break a seal, especially one of that caliber. But I have a kind of gift when dealing with demons. You could say it is similar to talent the Shodaime had in soothing demons. Anyone other than me most likely would have died if they tried to break the seal. But why don't you get to the real reason you followed me out here. You should be at the hospital or in your office dealing with the fallout of the battle. You definitely shouldn't be checking on the health of a ninja who is not even a Konoha shinobi. You could have just sent that Sakura girl, Shizune, or an even more junior medic-nin if that was all you wanted."

Tsunade sighed, she was definitely right in her decision if she was so obvious even someone who didn't know her very well could see through her. "You're right, I could have. But I finished up with the wounded some time ago. It's been a few hours since the attack after all."

Naruto looked at the setting sun in astonishment. He had been sitting out here thinking way longer than he realized.

"But that is neither here nor there. The real reason I came all the way out here to check on you is that I wanted to put forth a proposal to you at the request of the Konoha council. At first I was completely against it, but as you have done more for this village than most shinobi—hell, even most kages—in the short time you have been here, I rethought my position and decided to at least give you a chance. If you will consent to becoming a Konoha shinobi-"

Naruto held up his hand and cut her off. "Allying myself with one village will only hinder my ability to help people. Becoming a shinobi of the leaf would-"

This time it was Tsunade who interrupted him. "You didn't let me finish. I wasn't just offering you a position in our forces, I was offering you the chance to become Hokage, provided you prove that you can be loyal to the Leaf Village above all others." Tsunade sat back and enjoyed the kid's open mouthed reaction. It wasn't everyday someone offered you the highest position in the village. To her knowledge, no kage position was ever offered to someone not born in that village. She was also surprised. Offering the position to Naru wasn't nearly as distasteful as she thought it would be. Maybe it was because he possessed an uncanny resemblance to the kid she had picked to be her successor—or rather that he had deemed her as his predecessor—but she had thought it would be harder. Maybe she was even more eager for retirement than she thought.

"You're crazy…" Naruto whispered hoarsely. Here was Tsunade—at the beheast of the _council_ no less, the same council who had opposed him at every turn—offering him his old dream on a silver platter, the thing he had long ago accepted as being impossible and the kicker was…he couldn't take it. He couldn't live in this village again under the cover of a lie, even if it meant the resurrection and realization of his old dream. "I can't."

Tsunade had expected this answer at first. She was pretty good at reading people, even though she was lousy at gambling. Stupid Lady Luck. "You can. Normally this offer would never come to the table, but I think your reputation as a protector speaks for itself if even half the tales about you are true. You have the charisma to be an excellent leader and I have seen how people rally behind you on your missions, no matter how low-ranked. You are a natural leader. You were born to be in a position to exercise your talent and it is wasted as long as you continue to make your way alone in the world. Konoha needs a strong and able leader and none of the other shinobi available are suited to be Hokage. Don't get me wrong, we have some extremely strong shinobi, but none were _made_ to be Hokage, and you have to be made for it to put up with all the crap you have to deal with. I won't sugarcoat the position, for the most part it is a mixture of boring paperwork, heartache, paperwork, anxiety, paperwork, regret, paperwork, headaches from dealing with stupid shit and the council (which are not mutually exclusive), and let's not forget the fucking boring, never-ending paperwork. On top of all this, you have to be ready to give your life for your village at a moment's notice and know when this is necessary and when you have to send other shinobi in your place to die. Then you have to deal with the guilt of those who you sent to their death…and even children will occasionally get killed on missions. Our shinobi force isn't near what it used to be, so this happens more often than it should and the Hokage has to deal with it. As the Hokage, you are responsible for the welfare of every single person of this village, making this doubly hard. Becoming Hokage isn't like any other profession; it's not even a profession, it is a _calling_. I believe you have what it takes to answer that calling. You can think about it as long as you wish…just don't wait too long because eventually, no matter how much I don't think anyone available is cut out for it, I will have to pick my replacement. I'm getting old, much as I hate to admit it, and I can't do this job forever. I want to live out my old age in peace." _And I want to get away from the village that has taken almost everything I love away from me. If Naruto hadn't been so dead-set on protecting this village, I would have left office a long time ago. Responsibility only takes a person so far._

Naruto was silent as she left the clearing. Now he had even more to think about. He could never accept, of course, but he had to wonder why the council would offer an outsider the position. It could be just as Tsunade had said, but somehow he didn't think so. They were too devious for that. No, they wanted something…and he had to figure out what that something was.

He rose from the position on the ground he had fallen in and dusted himself off. He had more to discuss with Nibi than he had originally thought.

*********************************break********************************

"Sasuke! You never visit me at work, is something wrong? Was any of the retrieval team hurt? Was Nibi defeated? What-"

Sasuke removed his hand from her mouth and sighed. "No one was hurt and Nibi is probably far from the village at this moment. Nothing in particular is wrong-"

Sakura had gotten a calculating look on her face once she was assured of everyone's safety. Was it just her, or did Sasuke seem a little flustered? Sakura's jaw dropped as she noticed something else. Not that it would be noticeable to just anybody, but Sakura—in addition to being one of Konoha's top medic nin and Tsunade's apprentice—had at one time been co-president of the Uchiha Sasuke Fanclub and any fanclub member worth her Uchiha Sasuke Limited Edition Life-Sized Poster (which she now had protecting some old china) would have noticed the slightest disturbance in the stone that is the Uchiha's usual expression. Oh, Sasuke was trying, but…_his_ _lips are slightly swollen!_ Sakura thought with glee. _And is he _blushing_! He is!_

Sasuke didn't like the look on Sakura's face. It was like she knew everything and was going to enjoy slowly torturing him with the information until she had extracted every last bit of pride he had. He just knew he wasn't going to like the turn this conversation was sure to take.

"Uchiha Sasuke, are you _blushing_?!"

He was right. He hated it when he was right. Well, he didn't _really_ hate it, he was actually almost never wrong and he was quite proud of that fact, but for once he wished he had been wrong. "No." The red of his cheeks got even darker and once again he cursed his fair complexion.

"YOU ARE! Oh, this is priceless. I wish I had a camera…" _Wait, there are security cameras all in the hospital halls. We just updated them too, so it would have color. I can just freeze a frame from the security footage, zoom in, enlarge it, and then I'll have my proof! The ice-cold Uchiha embarrassed! Now, I just have to dig out the details and my life will be complete. _"So, what could have made the ice water flowing through your veins warm enough to bring this about, hmm? Could it be that someone we both know who shall remain nameless," Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. Sakura, noticing this, allowed Inner Sakura loose to start rubbing her hands and cackle evilly in her mind and continued, "Oh well, what's the fun in that? Let's just call this person _Naru_. Could it be that the famously untouchable Uchiha Sasuke finally thawed enough to engage in his first lip-lock? Wait, no, on second thought, your first kiss was with-" Sakura said, absentmindedly distracted, realized what she was saying and shut up with a pang in her heart. Sasuke now looked stricken and pale, much paler than he was normally and that was saying something. "I'm sorry, Sasuke! I didn't-"

He shook his head. How could he have forgotten Naruto? That kiss he had shared with Naruto had been mortifying at the time, but, however accidental, it was still something special they had shared. Naruto had been the only person he had ever kissed. Now, that wasn't true anymore. He had betrayed Naruto's memory in a moment of temper.

Sakura—allowing Inner Sakura to take care of the cursing of her big mouth and cursing Sasuke for being such a melodramatic brooder—worried about the scarily visible emotions on the Uchiha's face. Maybe what he really needed was to acknowledge just what Naruto had been to him before he had died and what could have been between them. "Sasuke, I think it has been long enough ago that we can talk about it. I may not have seen it at the time, but I had an inkling of what was between you and Naruto when I asked him to bring you back when you left with the Sound Four. You guys might have said it was because you were like brothers, but I knew it was more than that. Then, the few times we met trying to retrieve you, you only had eyes for Naruto; you hardly even looked at the rest of us. That was when I really started to become suspicious. During a time when your hormones had to have been going crazy, I never saw you look at a girl with even a fraction of the intensity you looked at Naruto with. I don't think you even looked at Itachi with that much intensity, which is something considering how much you hate him." It said a lot that Sasuke didn't even react to Itachi's name. "Naruto wouldn't have wanted you to miss your chance at happiness because of him, or because of your stupid pride. You might never love Naru, but if he could make you happy for just a day, Naruto would be the first to tell you to go for it. He always cared more about you than he did himself." Sakura took a deep breath and left Sasuke to think over her words. Hopefully she hadn't done more harm than good.

Sasuke walked away from the hospital in a dazed fashion. Him and _Naruto_? What was Sakura thinking? And, from the sound of it, she had had these thoughts for a long time. What a joke…Although, he _had_ seemed to take Naruto's death worse than anyone else, not that he had been aware of many other people at the time. But that was just guilt right? Even Hinata had finally gotten over Naruto's death and moved on. How did she do it when he couldn't? Did he really consider Naruto as a brother, or was it something more? What exactly _was_ love?

He went to the place he always went to feel closer to Naruto. He spent more time here than anyone who knew thought was healthy. He knew they didn't like it, but they couldn't really do anything to prevent it as it didn't interfere with his work.

He couldn't deny he was acting like a love-sick girl. Or at least what he thought a love-sick girl would act like. His fans had always been a little too crazy for him to draw a comparison between him and them.

He thought back to how his parents had acted around each other. His father had always put up with his mother's babying, just like he had always put up with…well, maybe that wasn't such a good comparison. Naruto put up with more from him than he had from him. Now that he thought of it, Naruto had always been there for him for just about whatever he needed. If he needed to let off some steam, he could always count on Naruto for a good fight. If he was brooding too much, Naruto had always done something stupid to lighten the mood or just started an argument to take his mind off whatever he was brooding about. At the time he had thought Naruto was just naturally stupid, but it was just in his nature to try to make everyone around him as happy as he could. He had effectively put his dreams on hold, while he tried to rescue Sasuke from making the worst mistake of his life.

All this just proved was that Naruto was a great friend and too stubborn for his own good. He was trying to figure out if he loved Naruto, not affirm something he already knew. He was really out of his element. He never thought he would ask himself this but…what would Sakura do?

Sakura and Lee! That was it! Any idiot could see the two loved each other. Sakura was always putting up with Lee's idiotic ramblings about youth and Gai-sensei and Lee would do anything to make Sakura happy. And Sakura was never afraid to punch Lee in the head when she felt he was being a little too stupid. But she would walk through fire for him and kill anyone who hurt his feelings. Sasuke had to admit he would do the same for Naruto. No one was allowed to make fun of him but Sasuke. He had never liked it when Sakura had put Naruto down. And he always got the urge to punch anyone who mocked him or tried to hurt him. Wait…Did that mean he, Sasuke, would have been the girl in his and Naruto's relationship?!

Sasuke shook his head and shuddered. No, it just meant Sakura was the man in her and Lee's relationship. Everyone knew who wore the pants in _that_ relationship. Just as no one would have had a doubt who would wear the pants in his and Naruto's relationship if they had ever had one.

It hit him like a bolt of lightning. He _had_ loved Naruto. Maybe he still did. He had never felt the least bit of desire for a female in his life, and, if what he was feeling around Naru was what he suspected but was in denial about, it was a safe bet he could kiss his plans of reviving his clan goodbye. The council was not going to like this. But there was always artificial insemination. But then he would have to deal with the mothers after the fact if he wanted to be any part of his children's lives. So that was out. He just had to resign himself to being the last of his clan and alone for the rest of his life.

There was still the question of what had happened with Naru, but Sasuke had done enough soul searching today. He would fall back on his old strategy: ignore it and pretend it never happened.

*********************************break********************************

Not too long after Sakura left Sasuke, she realized she had never pried the story from him.

An enraged yell was heard throughout Konoha.

Sakura stopped screaming suddenly and shrugged. _Oh well, tomorrow's another day! Now I'll just go to Security and get a copy of that tape…_ Inner Sakura rubbed her hands together in glee.

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Naruto gazed at the cave that had once been his home. Well, one of his homes. But this one was special. It was where his kits were born, only a few days before they died. It was the most suited, being protected by high cliffs and a very strong genjutsu. It should have been perfectly safe.

He shook his head. There was no use dwelling on the past. It would be almost another 2000 years before he could generate the energy to have more kits. And this time he would make sure nothing happened to them.

He made the steep climb to the den. He could feel Nibi inside waiting impatiently for him. No sooner had he made it to the top than he was pulled the rest of the way up and sat on his feet by an impatient curious cat. Naruto chuckled. "Haven't you ever heard the saying 'Curiosity killed the cat'?"

Nibi smirked. "You forgot the rest of that saying: 'and satisfaction brought it back.' Besides, you're one to talk. Kitsune have an even more curious nature than cats. You especially."

Naruto scratched his head. "Okay. But there isn't a saying about curiosity killing the kitsune. That's because kitsune are too smart to let that happen." Naruto gave a smirk of his own.

They got to his sleeping area. Furs from past kills filled the cave, free of must because of a special spell. They each took a seat.

Nibi gave a feline stretch and yawn. "So, why do remain in that form? Not that it isn't very handsome, but it must be uncomfortable."

"Not really." Naruto explained while he made himself comfortable. He took off his mask for the first time in front of somebody in ages and sighed. He had a long story to tell before he could even begin to ask for advice on his present problems. Oh well, better sooner than later. He began.

A couple hours later a dazed Nibi was shaking her head. "And you _still_ love this guy? I guess it _is_ true, you don't pick who you fall in love with. But…are you sure it's impossible? They accept Inutaisho just fine. Who is to say they won't accept you when you have proven your loyalty more than any Hokage Konoha has ever had? But, then again, I would be the first to admit that half the time I don't understand human reasoning." Nibi shrugged, trying to inject some lightheartedness into the discussion.

Naruto shook his head. That last remark was typical Nibi. "Inutaisho may have almost destroyed the village, but he didn't cause near the destruction, loss of life, and abject _terror_ that I did when I attacked the village twenty-three years ago. I may not have been in my right mind when it happened, but the villagers won't take that as an excuse. And I doubt that after they treated me like dirt for the first fifteen years of my life that they will suddenly welcome me with open arms when they find out who I am. And my friends will feel betrayed when they find out I have been lying to them all this time. Most of all, I don't want them to be afraid of me. I couldn't bear to see the look of hate and fear in their eyes like every other human I encounter in my other form. We of the tailed beasts were meant to always be alone, with only each other for the occasional companion."

Nibi yawned, which made Naruto want to strangle her. _Why_ did he want to talk to her again? Oh yeah, despite the fact that it seemed she could care less what you were saying, she somehow always managed to get to the heart of the matter and give semi-good advice.

"I still don't see why you don't just go on as you are. They never have to know who you were/are. You can fulfill your dream of becoming this 'Hokage' that you wanted so bad when you were human and be around your friends until they die. Humans aren't around for very long, and in a hundred or so years they will have forgotten all about your little indiscretion in their village." Nibi waved a hand.

"You don't get it Nibi. I don't think I can keep this up much longer. Plus, there are certain people who I'm afraid will automatically see the truth. And, given enough time, I think at least half of my old friends will find out too. They're not stupid." He thought better of that statement. Hehehe, he bet that mutt was still as dense as he was in the academy. "_Most_ of them are not stupid. And if they see me fight for real in a life or death fashion, they will certainly recognize most of my most powerful jutsu. The risks are too great." Naruto finished sadly.

Nibi was silent for a while before sighing. "I don't really know what to tell you. All I can say is to finish your business here as soon as possible and get out. We still have to deal with the rest of the Akatsuki and free our remaining brothers and sisters."

Naruto frowned, but was inwardly relieved to be through with the previous subject, despite the fact that she hadn't told him anything he didn't already know. "But there is only the leader and Itachi left, right? Between the three of us, we should be able to handle them."

Nibi cast him a look of annoyance. "Has all that humanity made you slow? We will have to fight our brothers and sisters too. The humans shouldn't be that much trouble, but I do think they are planning something. We shouldn't underestimate them."

Naruto was silent for a moment. Then he said quietly, "We may have to bring Hachibi out of hiding."

Nibi was startled. _Hachibi_?! "Are you sure? Shukaku is fucking crazy and he was always scared shitless of _her_! I am too! Even though I am her 'favorite big sister' she scares the fucking _hell_ out of me! You punished her for causing destruction and mayhem among the rest of us—Gobi's hair has never been the same since she set him on fire—and you want to lift her punishment a thousand goddamn years too early! And in a time when there is already too much fucking chaos to go around? Have you forgotten how she died your fur pansy-assed _pink?!_" Nibi only cursed when she was feeling threatened.

Naruto glared at her for the reminder of his humiliation. "Hachibi is nothing more than a nuisance. She gets serious when the time calls for it and she always follows my orders in a crisis. Plus," he continued with some amusement, "she has a vested interest in stopping the Akatsuki. She won't have anybody but the three of us—well, actually the two of you as she will probably too afraid of continued punishment to mess with me—to torment. You know how she hates to do anything _too_ damaging to the humans. She says it just isn't very sporting."

Nibi knew that look, no matter what form Kyuubi was in. She sighed. "Just _please_ stress not causing trouble to her before she comes here. We don't have to get her right away do we?" she asked hopefully.

Naruto chuckled and shook his head. "We all need to regroup and plan strategy. Hachibi is our best strategist. We need her as soon as possible. Plus, she needs time to recover from her punishment." He picked himself up, stretched, and prepared to leave. "I just hope she isn't _too_ insane. I still wonder if I wasn't too hard on her."

Nibi chuckled. She always felt giddy when she thought of Hachibi's punishment. "I don't see what's so bad about it. She gets food, exercise, and more love than anyone would ever need." She cracked up, howling like a loon. "Gobi and Rokubi were terrified you might do the same to them if they step a paw out of line."

Naruto stared down at her in amusement. He had always thought Hachibi's punishment one of his more inspired ideas himself. If only he had known about it when he was younger. It would have explained so much. He turned to go. "I'll be back in a couple of days with her. If all goes as planned, we will leave here in a week, maybe a few days later. If you must go out, disguise yourself. And as something _normal_." He continued on to the cave entrance before a thought made him stop in his tracks. He turned to Nibi in horror. "I just remembered…I have to find the Fire Lord's wife a new cat."

They were both horrified. The poor animal.

(**AN: **I was going to leave it here because I've gone so long without updating, but I think I've finally got back into my groove for this story.)

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The next two days flew by. Naruto had thought being around Sasuke would be awkward but Sasuke seemed to have erased the incident from his mind. Naruto tried his best to follow his lead. He was really good at deception by now, so it wasn't that difficult to _appear_ not to remember. It was much more difficult to actually do so, but, fortunately, he had plenty of important tasks to complete. _Un_fortunately, Tora seemed to be taking a break from running away for the time being.

Nibi was relieved. Any extension of the time to herself _without_ Hachibi was a godsend. But she knew Kyuubi would have her sooner or later. It was just a matter of time before Naruto got impatient and stormed the Fire Lord's house to retrieve his subordinate.

So it was a good thing Naruto got the mission to retrieve Tora on the third day. He had to fight for it though. Tsunade had had him helping with paperwork as part of his 'Hokage-training' and he used wanting to escape that for a while as his excuse for being so eager to perform the mission everyone from Genin to Hokage would not wish on their worst enemy.

It went well at first. Tora jumped into his arms again and started purring and rubbing her head on his hands. "Don't think you're off the hook, Loki. We just need all available biju to rescue our brothers and sisters from the Akatsuki. I'll find a more suitable punishment when all this is over unless you are on your best behavior."

Tora put her ears back, meekly though, and they went to the caves. Nibi was there and stared at Tora like she was the devil incarnate. Naruto threw the disguised cat into Nibi's arms. "Watch her. I think I've found another stray cat that looks exactly like Tora." Naruto took the little red ribbon off Tora's neck and they all felt a release of youki. The ribbon was what held the spell together, but it would take an hour or two before Tora's form would completely revert back to her true form. Already there were bits of black beginning to appear on her fur. "This shouldn't take long. I'll be back soon to discuss our plans for leaving and taking on the Akatsuki."

Naruto left, not paying any attention to the desperate looks Nibi sent him, begging him not to leave her alone.

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He really felt bad for the poor kitty. But at least the overeager lady got what was coming to her. This cat didn't put up with being smothered with affection very long before scratching the lady across her arm. The lady dropped her. "This is not my Tora-chan! My Tora-chan would never attack me!" the lady sobbed.

Tsunade looked like she was torn between rubbing her hands in glee and annoyed that she had to play nice and sooth the woman. She remembered those missions to find that damn cat and she knew this lady was the reason she was forced to go through that torture. But a Hokage had to do what a Hokage had to do. "Tora has a very distinct chakra signature for an animal. It feels weaker than it has in years, but that was definitely the chakra signature I remember. Sometimes animals just get testy when they don't feel well."

The Fire Lady gasped. "My Tora-chan is sick?! Fetch the medic-nins right now!" She registered she was in the presence of the most legendary medic-nin herself. "Get my Tora-chan back and _you _heal her! Only the best for my Tora-chan!"

Tsunade rubbed her temples from behind her desk. She was really getting too old for this. "My lady, I'm a medic-nin, not a vet. I operate on _humans_ not animals. You would be better off going to the Inuzuka clan, even though they hate cats. They are the best vets in our village."

"Well, fetch their best immediately! And you!" she pointed at Naruto. "Find my Tora-chan again right now!" Naruto did as he was told and decided to just save time and take her to Hana right then.

Hana wasn't very fond of cats, especially this one, but she wasn't as bad as Kiba. She wasn't very surprised at the results either. The three of them went to Hokage Tower to break the news to the Fire Lady. "She's just old, my lady. I don't know exactly how old she is, but from what I've heard, she has lived far longer than an ordinary cat should. My mother remembers catching her when she was a new genin. It was only a matter of time."

The lady began to sob loudly. "My poor Tora-chan! She was a gift from my mother-in-law before she died, just after I married my lord. **You can't die**!" she hugged the poor cat more violently, causing it to choke and pass out.

Hana was hesitant to point out that this wasn't all that good for the cat. For one thing, you just don't tell one of the nobility what to do. For another, that damn cat caused her untold misery during her genin days and no telling how many scratched arms. Finally, she was a _cat._ But she couldn't stand to see a dying animal suffer. "My lady, it isn't very good for Tora to be held so tightly in her condition. I would suggest only gentle handling and only when necessary. Petting is allowed, but that too must be done gently. Older animals have more fragile bones and can't stand as much physical affection as younger ones. In order to maximize the time you have together, you need to follow my instructions."

Luckily, Hana presented herself well to the Fire Lady, plus, she was feeling helpless and she actually _wanted_ to be told what to do. She ate up those instructions and actually _followed_ them! She loosened her hold and patted 'Tora-chan' gently. Her sobs subsided, but tears still ran down her cheeks as she tried to stop her sniffles. "How much longer does she have?"

Hana shook her head sadly. "It is very hard to make an accurate guess, my lady, but I would guess no longer than six-months to a year. It could even be before that. I can only suggest you make her as comfortable as possible in her final months. Try not to let her outside very much and rest as much as possible."

The lady ate these instructions up and finally left Tsunade's office supported by her assistant.

Tsunade and Hana waited until they saw the lady leave through the window and then they both broke into happy laughter. Tsuande even broke out her special super-secret-Shizune-will-never-find-it stash of sake. "Finally! That cat was my first mission fifty years ago! And I know I heard Sarutobi-sensei grumbling about _his_ genin days!"

Hana raised her sake cup. "The Reign of Tora Terror is finally over. No more demon cat!" Both saluted each other with their cups and drank heavily. Hana's three canine companions barked in agreement and Hana poured them each some sake. They had had to wait at a distance so they didn't scare the cat, although from the looks exchanged between the cat and the dogs, they were more scared of her than she was of them.

Naruto could only shake his head. If only they knew how accurate that last was. But at least it looked like he had made a good choice in the new Tora. The old cat could live out its final days in luxury instead of dying on the streets and it looked like the hell cat could control the Fire Lady if she got out of hand. It had actually turned out much better than he had assumed it would. He had no idea his replacement was old, or that Hana would give those instructions. He was just lucky that the ribbon gave off a chakra signature all of its own that Tsunade had mistaken for Tora's.

Now that all that was settled, he tried to leave, but was stopped by Tsunade's arm around his shoulders. He hadn't even seen the woman move, which was kinda scary. "You maary not kknow shish but jat cat hash caujed more shrubbbbble jan alje of Shound combinjed. It even deshroujed half the vilje onsh." After that it was more slurred stories about the trouble caused by the disguised Hachibi, otherwise known as Loki to those in the know.

Naruto finally escaped and ran into Inutaisho on his way back from the hell that is drunken women, especially when one of those women had super strength. Although Hana _had _tried her clan's Beast mimicry to destroy Tsunade's desk because Tsunade had bet her that she couldn't do it, so he could probably consider both of them to have super strength. The drunken dogs weren't any help as they were passed out on the floor. Luckily Shizune had come in when she heard all the racket and allowed him to escape while they faced her wrath.

He just hoped he didn't have to face it the next time he saw her for not trying harder to stop them. But, really, who was crazy enough, besides Shizune, to try to stop Tsunade from doing _anything_, especially when she was in that state?

"I was just about to hunt you down, Inutaisho. I released Hachibi-"

"WHAT?!"

"-and we need you to help develop our plan of attack on the Akatsuki."

The rest of the walk to the caves was filled with incoherent ramblings from Inutaisho and a little explaining and reassurance from Naruto.

They walked into the cave.

"KYUUBI!!!!" Naruto was immediately glomped by a _very_ beautiful woman/girl with tiger ears and eight tiger tails which were currently wrapped all around him.

Naruto grinned. "And how is my big sister after her hundred and twenty-eight years of confinement? Did you learn your lesson?" he asked, already knowing the answer: NO!

Loki nodded with childish innocence. "Don't mess with you. And most especially don't dye your fur a 'pansy-assed pink.'"

Naruto burst out laughing. He had to admit, Loki was amusing when she was playing innocent. "Don't mess with my fur. And you are not allowed _any_ of your tricks until our war with the Akatsuki is over and our brothers and sisters are free." _Or dead._ Naruto admitted silently, knowing that some would not want to be out of Akatsuki control. Sanbi was just too easily controlled and Shukaku was really just a destruction-driven psychopath, so both of them might be beyond help. It _might_ be possible to put Shukaku back in Gaara, but it would take an exhausting amount of chakra even for him and it wouldn't be without its dangers to Gaara either, since he had had only minimal youki in his system these last eight years. Plus, if it was him, he wouldn't want that damn tanuki in his head, since fusing wasn't an option for them. Really, the only reason he hadn't killed Shukaku a hundred and fifty years ago was because he was family, no matter how crazy he was. He wasn't always crazy—well, not all that crazy—but something happened about two hundred years ago. Naruto as Kyuubi had punished him by having him sealed in a teapot for almost destroying Suna (he formed some majorly bad sandstorms and directed them at The Village Hidden in the Sand and lost control of his form, materializing above the village and almost flattening it), but unfortunately he hadn't been aware that it was already occupied by an utterly mad dead monk. And there were so few items capable of containing even the lowest of the biju. Anyway, the spirits fused and Shukaku became destructive, deadly, and even _more _crazy. They got released at some point and caused untold destruction in Suna before being sealed again. There was no way of separating the two now, just as there was no separating the original Naruto from the original Kyuubi. It was amazing the two didn't completely take Gaara over permanently, considering what utter crap the seal binding the demon to him was.

They discussed attack plans and got all the information Nibi had on the two remaining members of the Akatsuki. Nibi told all she knew which, admittedly, wasn't much. Naruto knew more than she did, but there was something new. She frowned thoughtfully. "The leader likes to talk to the statue he seals us in a lot. We didn't have any free will or thoughts of our own in there, so it's kind of hard to remember anything specific, but I think he got impatient when he couldn't find Yonbi or Hachibi. He got really angry when he got the news that you were dead, Kyuubi. When he feels strong emotions, everything gets clearer, even if we feel them with him he still isn't in complete control. That could be used to break his hold on them in combination with Kyuubi's authority as our leader. Also, during one of those rages, I got the feeling of self-loathing, in addition to hatred for the rest of the world. Whoever the leader is, he is not a very sane or happy person."

This last bit wasn't much news to Naruto, but it was part of the whole 'know thy enemy' thing. The rest of it was something they could use. They discussed the matter a little longer before being satisfied that they were as prepared as they could get with the information they had at hand.

Loki introduced a new topic in her completely random, mischievous fashion. "So, what's this interesting smell I sense coming off you, Kyuubi? If I didn't know better, I would say you were in heat."

The other demons burst out laughing as Naruto's face turned a flaming red. "I have no idea what you are talking about." He hurried to change the subject, realizing he still didn't know anything about Inutaisho's courtship. It was his turn to smile mischievously. "How's the courtship of Tsunade going, Inutaisho? I think you'll find it harder than usual to get into _her_ pants!"

The other three laughed as Inutaisho frowned. "Tsunade-san? What ever gave you the idea I was courting her?"

Naruto stopped his laughter to give him a puzzled look. Could he have been mistaken? But he hadn't seen him express an interest in anyone else they met. "Then who were you talking about?"

Inutaisho got a look none of them had ever seen on his face before, even Naruto who had spent the most time with him and seen all his tricks to get women into bed with him. Although, at least he never lied to them to make them think it meant more than it did. The dog demon smiled dreamily and sighed a name. "Tenten."

The others were amused, but they had no idea who this woman was. Naruto, however, felt his jaw unhinge and fall to the ground in shock. "Tenten?! What-How-Why-_When_-"

Inutaisho chuckled, finally seeing it from Naruto's point of view. "She is completely different from any woman I've ever met. She absolutely refuses to sleep with me-"

"That's a first for a human." Loki whispered to Nibi.

Inutaisho ignored them. It was true. "-and she has certain indescribable qualities that I have never encountered before. Any time I spend with her is precious and makes me feel things I've never felt before. Do you—well, of course you all do, you're all just about as old, if not older," nodding to Nibi, "than me. Given all the years we have been on this earth, all the people we have met, all the things we have experienced, it is extremely rare for any of us to experience something we have never felt before. I intend to treasure these new feelings as long as she will let me."

Loki, in a moment of rare compassion, put a hand on his shoulder. "You do know you can never have kit- er, puppies with this human, right? In all the time you have been alive, you are the only one of us that has never taken the chance to use your youki to make your own children. Nor have you—or any of us for that matter—been able to have children with humans, or any other species. Reproduction by ourselves seems to be the only way any of us is capable of. So it is most likely you will never be able to fully make a life with her if she wants little ones. Are you sure you want to force your human to make that kind of decision?"

They were all silent after that, the levity of before covered with an air of sadness since the topic broached was a sore one for all who were present, especially Naruto. For a moment after Loki's voice faded, he was sure he saw a couple of newly born fox kits in the corner playing. Then it disappeared and the only reminder of the kits he had lost so long ago was the pain in his heart.

Inutaisho and Naruto left soon after, in a much worse mood than they had entered just hours before.

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Two more days passed and Naruto knew he couldn't put off leaving much longer. But it just felt so _good_ to be home again. And there was also the fact that he seemed to be coming down with something for the first time in his life that wasn't induced by drinking bad milk.

It was completely strange. He felt hot all over and was perpetually flushed. His mind was cloudy and he found it extremely difficult to concentrate. He had a very hard time maintaining his current form, too. He even went outside the village to transform a little while, but it didn't get better no matter what form he took. In fact, it seemed to get worse.

He couldn't seem to keep himself from staring at Sasuke whenever they happened to meet in the hallway, either. Unusually, Sasuke seemed to have the same problem. They had been avoiding each other the entire week. Naruto had even declined the mission given to him by the Hokage. Sasuke was now followed constantly by another Anbu team. He was not happy about it, especially after the complete truth of the attack at the training grounds was disclosed. It seemed to put him into an even worse foul mood.

Naruto tried not to wonder where Sasuke disappeared to most nights, which was happening even more often than it had previously, with him leaving every night and not returning until dawn. Naruto could not explain why it made him so angry and snappish. Whenever he couldn't avoid thinking about it, he had to replace the pen he was holding and clean his hands. It seemed that paperwork did not require sufficient brainpower to shut off his brain from other problems. Or maybe it was just that he had always been extraordinarily good at multitasking. Kage Bunshin _was_ the most wonderfully useful jutsu in the world, after all. At least he thought so.

There was another meeting between the only free biju later that night. As soon as Naruto entered the cave, all three of the others' noses flared and Inutaisho immediately put as much distance between them as possible, his eyes flashing red as he fought against his instincts.

Loki was the one to finally break the silence. "You really _are_ in heat." Her eyes were wide and her voice was filled with awe.

Naruto's eyebrows snapped together. "That is not possible."

"Trust me, I _know_ when someone is in heat. And you, my friend and esteemed leader, are in heat." Inutaisho growled out from his position across the cavern.

Naruto frowned. "It is not possible for any of us to go into heat as each of us are the only ones of our kind other than our children and descendents. We do not and cannot mate with them so no one is available for us to mate. We are only able to produce children asexually, so mating is not necessary and the only reason any animal goes into heat is to produce offspring of some kind. Therefore, it _is_ impossible."

"What if this is a side effect from you merging with the human? Do you not have the body of your jin as well as your old one?" Nibi wondered.

Naruto froze. That _was_ a possibility. But he was a boy, and boys did not go into heat. _But…_He frowned in thought. _Men seemed to be more susceptible to their sexual urges than women. Women go into heat at roughly the midpoint between cycles. Maybe my human male side and my animal side combined and this is the result?_

Inutaisho's markings stood out and youki flared. "**You **_**are**_** in heat, Naruto. Accept it and take appropriate measures. Tomorrow you will be at your peak. I do not think it would be wise for any male youkai such as myself to be around until your time is over. Even animals will have trouble overcoming their base instincts. Confine yourself and set up a barrier with your youki. Let no one come near you for three days.**"

Nibi frowned. She was the oldest of the four, the second oldest of all the biju. She had seen both humans and animals evolve and knew that the urge to mate was strong. Nature would find a way and Nibi was not entirely certain Kyuubi could resist the call. "It might be a good idea for you to restrain yourself in some way also. When your animal side and instincts take over, you may not be able to control yourself."

"But how am I to restrain myself? I _am _the Kyuubi, with all the power that comes with it. What is a few ropes—or even chains—going to do to hold me back?"

Nibi was stumped, but Loki came up with an answer, surprisingly serious due to the occasion. None of them had ever dealt with something like this before. The other two hadn't thought of the implications yet, but it gave Loki hope that maybe all was not what they had originally thought. "If all three of us pooled our powers and cast a chain of chakra to hold Kyuubi, it should hold for at least a week. If we had to hold it longer or we had to catch you without your cooperation, I would worry, but the heat should be over by then. It would be ideal to cast it here, but I think it would be better to keep Inutaisho here rather than Kyuubi so that we can keep him grounded. What we need is somewhere no one ever goes that is far enough away from the village so that the small amount of youki needed to form the barrier is not noticed."

"The Forest of Death would be a good place. Hardly anyone ever goes there and my youki would scare most of the animals away. And nothing should be able to get through my barrier."

Nibi nodded. "Then it's settled. You will spend the rest of today saying goodbye to everyone and tonight we will set up the barrier and restraints. In four days, after you have recovered, we will make our move on those Akatsuki bastards."

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_**SO**_ sorry about the delay. I know many of you were ready to hunt me down and strangle me with my own laptop cord, but I lost interest in this story for a while. I'm also not as interested in yaoi as I was before. I'm still going to finish this story, but it's just a little more difficult to write. _This_ story isn't much longer, but there's still the sequel, which will probably be put off for a while.

It's been a while since I updated, so I hope this doesn't have too many plot holes. It's turning out a little different than what I had originally planned, but at least it's written.


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